Clinical Profile and Management Outcomes of Acute Appendicitis in Patients Undergoing Appendicectomy: A Hospital-Based Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48047/m5v8yv45Keywords:
Acute appendicitis, Appendicectomy, Perforation, Negative appendicectomy rate, Laparoscopy, Quality metricsAbstract
Abstract
Background: Acute appendicitis is the commonest abdominal surgical emergency, yet its diagnosis remains clinically challenging. The negative-appendicectomy rate and the perforation rate are widely used quality metrics that reflect, respectively, diagnostic accuracy and timeliness of surgical intervention. Contemporary data from South India are limited.
Objectives: To describe the clinical, investigative, operative and histopathological profile of patients undergoing appendicectomy for suspected acute appendicitis, and to evaluate management outcomes against established quality benchmarks.
Materials and Methods: A hospital-based observational study was conducted at a tertiary care teaching hospital in South India, enrolling 200 patients who underwent appendicectomy for suspected acute appendicitis. Clinical, operative and histopathology records were reviewed. Perforation was defined operatively, and negative appendicectomy as histologically normal appendix. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, the chi-square test and the independent-samples t-test, with p<0.05 considered significant.
Results: The mean age was 40.3 (SD 17.5) years; 102 (51.0%) were female. The mean duration of pain was 51.7 (SD 26.5) hours and the mean total leucocyte count was 14,421 (SD 4,620)/mm³. Perforation was present in 93 patients (46.5%; 95% CI 39.6–53.4%). The negative-appendicectomy rate was 21.5%. The mean hospital stay was 5.9 (SD 2.9) days. Hospital stay did not differ by operative approach (laparoscopic 6.1 vs open 5.6 days; p=0.20) or by perforation (p=0.77). No measured variable was associated with perforation.
Conclusion: A high perforation rate and a notable negative-appendicectomy rate, both exceeding commonly cited benchmarks, indicate scope to improve diagnostic accuracy and timeliness of surgery. Laparoscopic and open approaches yielded comparable outcomes.
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References
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