Department of Surgery, Dr. Abdurrahman Yurtaslan Ankara Oncology Education and Research Hospital, 06200, Ankara, Turkey.
World J Surg. 2021 Jan;45(1):18-22. doi: 10.1007/s00268-020-05825-3. Epub 2020 Oct 21.
Appendectomy for acute appendicitis remains one of the most common surgical procedures. This study aims to assess the clinical presentation and delays in diagnosing acute appendicitis during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We evaluated data of all adult patients who underwent an appendectomy at our hospital between June 1, 2019 and June 1, 2020. Demographic data, admission type to the emergency room, radiological findings, pathological findings, and hospitalization time were noted. Patients were divided into four groups of 3-month periods, pre (Groups 5, 4, 3, 2) and during the pandemic (Group 1). Hospitalization time and perforation status of each group were compared. The hospital admission type and their effect on perforation were also evaluated.
Two hundred and fourteen patients were included; 135 patients were male, and 57 were female. The median age was 39 years. In Group 1 (pandemic period), 28.8% of patients were referred to us from pandemic hospitals. The median hospitalization time was 7.3 h before pandemics (Group 2-5), 5 h in the pandemic period (Group 1). Perforation rates were 27.8% in Group 1, 23.3% in Group 2, 16.3% in Group 3, 14.0% in Group 4, and 18.6% in Group 5 (0 = 0.58). There was no difference in the patients in Group 1 in the rate of perforated appendicitis in patients who were referred from other pandemic hospitals (29.4) and those admitted via our own emergency room (16.6%) (p = 0.27) during the pandemic period.
We did not observe any clear increase in the diagnosis of perforated appendicitis during the pandemic period, even in patients who were transferred from other hospitals.
急性阑尾炎切除术仍然是最常见的外科手术之一。本研究旨在评估 COVID-19 大流行期间急性阑尾炎的临床表现和诊断延迟。
我们评估了 2019 年 6 月 1 日至 2020 年 6 月 1 日期间在我院接受阑尾切除术的所有成年患者的数据。记录了人口统计学数据、急诊入院类型、放射学发现、病理学发现和住院时间。患者分为四个 3 个月的时间段，分别为（第 5、4、3、2 组）和大流行期间（第 1 组）。比较了每组的住院时间和穿孔情况。还评估了入院类型及其对穿孔的影响。
共纳入 214 例患者；135 例为男性，57 例为女性。中位年龄为 39 岁。在第 1 组（大流行期间），28.8%的患者是从大流行医院转来的。大流行前的中位住院时间为 7.3 小时（第 2-5 组），大流行期间为 5 小时（第 1 组）。穿孔率在第 1 组为 27.8%，第 2 组为 23.3%，第 3 组为 16.3%，第 4 组为 14.0%，第 5 组为 18.6%（0=0.58）。在大流行期间，从其他大流行医院转来的患者（29.4%）和从我们自己的急诊室入院的患者（16.6%）在第 1 组穿孔性阑尾炎的发生率没有差异（p=0.27）。
即使在从其他医院转来的患者中，我们也没有观察到大流行期间穿孔性阑尾炎诊断的明显增加。
