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An indirect effect of COVID-19 pandemic: Increased pediatric perforated appendicitis rate due to delayed admission

Authors :
Ergun, Ergün
Sümeyye, Sözduyar
Aynur, Gurbanova
Fırat, Serttürk
Ergin, Çiftçi
Halil, Özdemir
Gül, Arga
Hatice Kübra, Konca
Güle, Çınar
İrem, Akdemir Kalkan
Ezgi, Gülten
Özlem, Selvi Can
Birsel, Şen Akova
Ömer, Suat Fitöz
Göksel, Vatansever
Deniz, Tekin
Gülnur, Göllü
Meltem, Bingöl-Koloğlu
Aydın, Yağmurlu
Murat, Çakmak
Ufuk, Ateş
Source :
Turk J Surg
Publication Year :
2021
Publisher :
Turkish Journal of Surgery, 2021.

Abstract

Objective: Appendicitis is a common surgical emergency among children. The coronavirus pandemic affected the system of hospitals more than any other field, and great amount of people were concerned about visiting the hospitals for any reason. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the profile of appendicitis by emphasizing perforated and acute appendicitis in the pandemic period and to compare the rates with previous three years. Material and Methods: Charts of the children who underwent laparoscopic appendectomy due to appendicitis between March 11-September 30 between 2017-2020 were retrospectively analyzed in terms of demographic data, duration of symptoms, duration between hospital admission and surgery, radiologic imaging and perioperative outcomes. Results: This study includes 467 children who underwent laparoscopic appendectomy. There were 97 procedures in 2020, 111 in 2019, 146 in 2018 and 113 in 2017. Multiple comparison tests revealed that age did not show difference; but onset of symptoms in admission (p= 0.004), hospitalization time before surgery (p< 0.001), total hospitalization time (< 0.001) showed statistically significant difference between years. Pairwise comparisons showed that these parameters were increased in 2020 compared to other years. Perforated appendicitis rate was significantly increased in 2020 when compared to previous years. Conclusion: Although there is no direct relation between appendicitis and COVID-19 infection in the current knowledge, perforated appendicitis was found to be increased in children during the COVID pandemic. Reason of the higher rate of perforated appendicitis may be multifactorial; however, the pandemic appears to have a role in increased morbidity in children with appendicitis indirectly due to delay of hospital admissions.

Subjects

Subjects :
Original Article

Details

ISSN :
25647032 and 25646850
Volume :
37
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Turkish Journal of Surgery
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....7fb07c1e7a72a9caf858c012b939c604
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.47717/turkjsurg.2021.5277