Pediatric Appendicitis: Age Does Make a Difference

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the influence of patient age on the diagnosis and management of appendicitis, as well as to evaluate the rate of complications according to the age group.Methods: We undertook a retrospective analysis of 1,736 children who underwent laparoscopic appendectomy in our center between January 2000 and December 2013. Patients were divided in groups taken into account their age: group A were infants, group B were preschoolers, group C were those ones older than five years old, and group D were those ones younger than five years old. A p value of 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: We found higher incidence of misdiagnosis and atypical symptoms in the youngest patients. The rate of perforation was similar between group A and B (p=0.17). However, it was higher in group D than in group C (p<0.0001). The incidence of postoperative complications was higher in the youngest patients too (p=0.0002).Conclusions: The age does make a difference in acute appendicitis. Because of its unusual presentation in children younger than five years old, it is often misdiagnosed, which leads to an increased morbidity. Although clinical presentation varies between infants and preschoolers, no statistically significant differences were observed in the rate of perforated appendix or postoperative complications.

The Incidence of Perforated Appendicitis Among Pediatric Patients in Khartoum North Teaching Hospital, Sudan

“…(Veli Avci, 2019 ).It is a one of the commonest surgical emergency in adults or paediatrics. (Aneirosa et al , 2019). We were conducted this study in Khartoum North Teaching Hospital which is a one of the reference hospital in Sudan which located in Bahri city and contain one of the referral centre of the paediatric surgery in the Sudan.…”

So You Think This Baby Has Appendicitis? The Subtle Clues and Deceptive Signs

“…by vomiting [1]. In the index case the two factors which indicated an abdominal surgical pathology were the positional "splinting" and the "probe tenderness" during abdominal ultrasound.…”

Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio as the marker of acute appendicitis and its destructive forms in children

“…Гострий апендицит (ГА) є найчастішим чинником гострого абдомінального болю у дітей [4]. Незважаючи на добре відомі класичні симптоми ГА, рання діагностика в деяких випадках може бути утрудненою, що зумовлює несприятливі наслідки, включаючи перфорацію червоподібного відростка, що поєднується з численними ускладненнями і навіть летальними випадками [13].…”

“…Незважаючи на добре відомі класичні симптоми ГА, рання діагностика в деяких випадках може бути утрудненою, що зумовлює несприятливі наслідки, включаючи перфорацію червоподібного відростка, що поєднується з численними ускладненнями і навіть летальними випадками [13]. Об'єктивне та лабораторне обстеження та результати візуалізаційних методів найчастіше використовують у пацієнтів з підозрою на ГА [3,4,6]. Серед лабораторних показників найчастіше у дітей визначається зростання кількості лейкоцитів, проте цей показник не є специфічним і чутливим маркером наявності як ГА, так і його деструктивних форм [5,12,21].…”