Influence of the coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2) pandemic on acute appendicitis

Copyright © 2020 Asociación Española de Pediatría. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved..

INTRODUCTION: Acute appendicitis (AA) is the most common abdominal surgical emergency. No specific studies have been found that evaluate the impact of the coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2) pandemic on AA and its surgical management. An analysis was made on the influence of this new pathology on the clinical course of AA.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Retrospective observational study was conducted on patients operated on for AA from January to April 2020. They were classified according to the time of the appendectomy, before the declaration of the state of alarm (pre-COVID-19), and after its declaration (post-COVID-19) in Spain, one the most affected countries in the world. An evaluation was made of demographic variables, duration of symptoms, type of appendicitis, surgical time, hospital stay, and postoperative complications.

RESULTS: The study included 66 patients (41 pre-COVID-19; 25 post-COVID-19) with mean age of 10.7 ± 3 and 9.3 ± 3.1; P = .073, respectively. Fever was found in a higher number of post-COVID-19 patients (52 vs. 19.5%; P = 0.013), as well as a higher CRP (72.7 ± 96.2 vs. 31.3 ± 36.2 mg/dL; P = 0.042). This group presented with a higher proportion of complicated appendicitis when compared to pre-COVID-19 (32 vs. 7.3%; P = 0.015). The mean hospital stay was longer in the post-COVID-19 group (5.6 ± 5.9 vs. 3.2 ± 4.3 days; P = 0.041). No differences were found in the time of onset of symptoms or surgical time.

CONCLUSIONS: The SARS-Cov-2 pandemic influenced the time of diagnosis of appendicitis, as well as its course, and mean hospital stay. Peritonitis was more frequently seen. As a result of the significant circumstances, delaying diagnosis and treatment of AA during SARS-Cov-2 pandemic, inappropriate management of this common surgical disorder has been noticed.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2020

Erschienen:

2020

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:93

Enthalten in:

Anales de pediatria - 93(2020), 2 vom: 18. Aug., Seite 118-122

Sprache:

Spanisch

Weiterer Titel:

Influencia de la pandemia por coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2) en la apendicitis aguda

Beteiligte Personen:

Velayos, María [VerfasserIn]
Muñoz-Serrano, Antonio Jesús [VerfasserIn]
Estefanía-Fernández, Karla [VerfasserIn]
Sarmiento Caldas, Ma Carmen [VerfasserIn]
Moratilla Lapeña, Lucas [VerfasserIn]
López-Santamaría, Manuel [VerfasserIn]
López-Gutiérrez, Juan Carlos [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Acute appendicitis
Apendicectomía
Apendicitis aguda
Appendectomy
Complicaciones postquirúrgicas
Journal Article
Observational Study
Paciente pediátrico
Paediatric patient
Post-surgical complications
SARS-Cov-2

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 10.08.2020

Date Revised 03.11.2023

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1016/j.anpedi.2020.04.022

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM310732743