Childhood Appendicitis in Regional Hospital

Authors

  • Pongtep Chaiprasit Department of Surgery, Chonburi Hospital, Chonburi, Thailand

Keywords:

childhood appendicitis, regional hospital

Abstract

Background: Appendicitis is one of the most common intraabdominal conditions that needs surgery in
children.
Objectives: The purpose of the study was to find the nature of childhood appendicitis which may be used
as the representative data of regional hospitals in Thailand under universal coverage of national health care
scheme.
Materials and Methods: Medical records of the patients aged under 15 years admitted to Chonburi
hospital with the diagnosis of appendicitis and abdominal pain suspected of appendicitis between 2007 and 2010
were reviewed. The patients’ data including demographics, modes and results of treatment were collected.
Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data.
Results: There were 660 patients in which 333 of them were referred cases (50.5%). Four hundred and
seventy-five patients underwent appendectomies (72% of admitted cases). The average age of patients who had
appendectomies was 9.6 years. Boys were predominated with 56.4%. Pathological specimens of the appendices
were obtained in 463 patients which revealed appendicitis and normal appendix rates of 86.6% and 11.7%
respectively. The appendicitis rupture rate was 35.4%. Enterobiasis was found in 1.7%. The highest rupture
rate of 65.4% was found in the age group of 0-4 years. Patients with the symptom of abdominal pain between
24 and 48 hours had the highest rate of appendicitis rupture (70.7%). All patients had appendectomies
performed within 24 hours after admission with the average time of 4 hours and 45 minutes. The median
hospital stay was 3 days. One patient died of appendicitis rupture. Mortality rate was 0.2%.
Conclusions: The appendicitis rupture rate was high in children. This might be prevented by early
diagnosis.

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Published

2011-09-30

How to Cite

1.
Chaiprasit P. Childhood Appendicitis in Regional Hospital. Thai J Surg [Internet]. 2011 Sep. 30 [cited 2024 Dec. 23];32(3). Available from: https://he02.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/ThaiJSurg/article/view/227263

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Original Articles