High appendicectomy rates in Ireland: why?

Abstract

SUMMARY Age-specific appendicectomy rates for Ireland have recently been reported to be substantially higher than those for Scotland. We attempted to determine the reason for this difference. Records of 940 appendicectomies performed in one urban and one rural centre in Ireland over a 12 month period were examined to establish the frequency of acute appendicitis. Appendicitis rates were derived from these data. Appendicectomy rates are higher in Ireland because the incidence of acute appendicitis is greater than in Scotland or England and Wales and are not the result of variations in medical practice.Age-specific appendicectomy rates derived from Hospital In-Patient Enquiry (HIPE) statistics for the Republic of Ireland are 1.5 to 2-0 times greater than comparable rates for Scotland' (see table). We attempted to determine whether these differences are due to variations in medical practice or to intrinsic differences in the incidence of acute appendicitis in the two countries.

Perfil das complicações após apendicectomia em um hospital de emergência

“…Essa doença tem sido atribuída à obstrução mecânica, à dieta inadequada de fibras e à susceptibilidade familiar 2,4,5,7,8,9 . Outros fatores relacionados à estrutura populacional, condições socioeconômicas e patógenos bacterianos, virais ou parasitários, também estão envolvidos na etiopatogenia dessa afecção.…”

Prevalence of Acute Appendicitis in a Mixed Population

“…Similar results were found when comparing the patients operated at our hospi tal with the population of our state. Therefore, the differ ences found in the present investigation may be due to a relationship between skin color and acute appendicitis, as mentioned in other papers [5,7,[9][10][11].…”

“…Other factors asso ciated with population structure, improved socioeconom ic conditions, and bacterial, viral or parasitic pathogens have also been involved in the etiopathology of this dis turbance [5][6][7], However, its etiology and epidemiology remain poorly understood [5,6,8], The relationship between acute appendicitis and skin color is one of the interesting points that is not well understood.…”

“…Studies performed in countries with predominantly white people describe an acute appendicitis incidence as high as 17% in Denmark [9] and 12% in Wales [7,10]. However, in the black populations of countries in Africa this disease is almost absent, with an incidence ranging between 0.3 and 1% [11,12].…”

Incidência comparativa da apendicite aguda em população miscigenada, de acordo com a cor da pele

“…Essa doença tem sido atribuída à obstrução mecânica, à dieta inadequada de f ibras e à susceptibilidade f amiliar (1,3,6,9,14) . Outros f atores relacionados à estrutura populacional, melhora das condições socioeconômicas e patógenos bacterianos, virais ou parasitários, também estão envolvidos na etiopatogenia dessa afecção (1,2,5) . Entretanto, sua etiolo gia e epidemiologia ainda per manecem pouco compreendidas (1,2,5) .…”