Appendicitis.

INTRODUCTION

Appendicitis is an acute inflammation of the appendix that can lead to an abscess, ileus, peritonitis, or death. Appendicitis is the most common abdominal surgical emergency, with a lifetime risk of approximately 7% to 9% in the USA. Mortality from acute appendicitis is less than 0.3%, but rises to 1.7% after perforation.

METHODS AND OUTCOMES

We conducted a systematic review and aimed to answer the following clinical question: What are the effects of treatments for acute appendicitis? We searched: Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library, and other important databases up to February 2010 (Clinical Evidence reviews are updated periodically; please check our website for the most up-to-date version of this review). We included harms alerts from relevant organisations such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

RESULTS

We found 16 systematic reviews, RCTs, or observational studies that met our inclusion criteria. We performed a GRADE evaluation of the quality of evidence for interventions.

CONCLUSIONS

In this systematic review we present information relating to the effectiveness and safety of the following interventions: antibiotics, laparoscopic surgery, ligation, open surgery, stump inversion, and surgery.