491 Comparison of Pandemic and Pre-pandemic Practices of Managing Acute Appendicitis
| Autor: | L Salih, K Bevan, R Sabaratnam, H K Kim |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | The British Journal of Surgery |
| ISSN: | 1365-2168 0007-1323 |
| Popis: | Aim Acute appendicitis (AA) is a common indication for abdominal surgery, with more than 30,000 appendicectomies performed in England per year. However, SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) changed usual surgical practices following advice to minimise laparoscopic surgery, and instead favouring conservative management, or open surgery for AA. Method In this study, we compared the management of 50 patients with suspected/confirmed AA during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic at a district general hospital (DGH) with our usual practices, against 50 patients admitted with suspected/confirmed AA during a similar time period, one year prior to the pandemic. Results Demographics of patients in both groups were comparable with median age of 34 in the pandemic vs 32.5 in the pre-pandemic group. 74% of patients in the pandemic group (PG) underwent imaging to confirm appendicitis, compared to 58% of patients in the pre-pandemic group (PPG). 64% of PG patients were treated conservatively, compared to 8% in PPG patients. Outcomes demonstrated re-attendance events of 12% in the PG, as compared to 10% in the PPG, although the follow up period was longer in the PPG. Despite a significantly smaller number of patients managed surgically during the pandemic, 27% of patients undergoing appendicectomies had post-operative complications in the PG, as compared to 7% in the PPG. Conclusions During the pandemic, more patients at our DGH with AA were treated conservatively, more patients had re-attendance events and post-operative complications when compared to patients in the pre-pandemic group. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|