Emergency cholecystectomy is less costly and more effective than delayed cholecystectomy. This approach is likely to be beneficial to patients in terms of improved health outcomes and to the healthcare provider owing to the reduced costs.
Introduction This paper assessed the association between operative approach and postoperative in-hospital mortality in elderly patients undergoing emergency abdominal surgery. Patients undergoing emergency laparotomy have high morbidity and mortality rates. One-third of patients requiring emergency surgery are over 75 years old, and their in-hospital mortality rate exceeds 17%. Fewer than 20% of emergency abdominal operations in the UK are attempted laparoscopically, and only 10% are completed laparoscopically. Little is known about how laparoscopic emergency surgery in the elderly might affect outcomes. Methods An observational UK study was performed using the prospectively maintained National Emergency Laparotomy Audit (NELA) database. Operative approach, NELA risk-prediction score and in-hospital mortality were recorded. The effect of operative approach on in-hospital mortality was analysed, both on a national basis and in a high-volume laparoscopic centre. Results A total of 47,667 patients were included in the study, of whom 15,068 were over 75 years of age. Nationally, surgery was completed by the laparoscopic approach in 7.8% of patients aged over 75; both crude mortality (9.2%) and risk-adjusted mortality (7.1%) were significantly reduced (p<0.0001). In our unit, surgery was completed laparoscopically in 48.4% of patients aged over 75; both crude mortality (6.6%) and risk-adjusted mortality (3.3%) were significantly reduced (p<0.0001). Conclusion Laparoscopy in emergency surgery has been shown in this study to significantly reduce in-hospital mortality in elderly patients and should be embraced in every centre dealing with emergency abdominal surgery.
Introduction Appendicitis continues to be a common surgical emergency in children, but its diagnosis remains challenging. Use of diagnostic imaging to confirm appendicitis has gained popularity in some countries because it is associated with lower negative appendicectomy rates. This study reports our centre’s experience of adopting routine ultrasound for the investigation of suspected appendicitis in children. Methods A single-centre retrospective cohort study was performed investigating all children aged 5–16 years admitted under surgeons with suspected appendicitis, in January–December 2019. Primary outcomes were the rate of ultrasound use, its accuracy in diagnosing/excluding appendicitis and negative appendicectomy rate. Other outcomes were treatment received, length of stay and complications. Results The majority of the 193 children with suspected appendicitis underwent a diagnostic ultrasound (87.5%). Ultrasound was highly sensitive (0.90, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.81–0.96) and specific (1.0, 95% CI 0.96–1.0) for appendicitis in this study. Negative appendicectomy rate was extremely low (1.4%). Laparoscopic appendicectomy was the preferred management (75/86), with one case started open and no conversions to open. A minority of cases of simple appendicitis (10/86) were treated primarily with antibiotics. Rates of complex appendicitis and postoperative complications were similar to other studies. Conclusion Ultrasound can be highly sensitive and specific for appendicitis. Its routine use to confirm appendicitis prior to surgery is associated with a low negative appendicectomy rate. This is a major change in practice for a general surgical unit in the United Kingdom.
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