Open AccessDid the COVID‐19 Pandemic Cause a Delay in the Diagnosis of Acute Appendicitis?
Author(s) -
Turanli Sevim,
Kiziltan Gamze
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
world journal of surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.115
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1432-2323
pISSN - 0364-2313
DOI - 10.1007/s00268-020-05825-3
Subject(s) - medicine , perforation , pandemic , appendicitis , cardiothoracic surgery , cardiac surgery , abdominal surgery , covid-19 , acute appendicitis , surgical emergency , general surgery , emergency department , young adult , surgery , disease , punching , metallurgy , materials science , psychiatry , infectious disease (medical specialty)
Background 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. Methods 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. Results 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. Conclusion 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.