Acute appendicitis in the elderly; Pakistan Ordnance Factories Hospital, Wah Cantt. experience.

OBJECTIVE: To review the clinical experience in diagnosis, management and outcome of elderly patients presenting with acute appendicitis at the Pakistan Ordnance Factories Hospital, Wah Cantt. METHODS: All patients of age 60 years and above presenting with abdominal pain were prospectively reviewed. Patients who were diagnosed as acute appendicitis were included in this case series which was conducted at Pakistan Ordnance Factories Hospital, Wah Cantt, from December 2006 to May 2008. Detailed history and clinical examination, co-morbid conditions, clinical manifestations and post-operative outcome were recorded. The diagnosis was made on the basis of history and clinical examination. The diagnosis was also confirmed on histopathology. All the details were recorded on a questionnaire. Approval from our own ethical committee was taken. SPSS 16 was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: A total of 75 patients presented with acute abdominal pain. Of them 42 were admitted with tenderness in right iliac fossa and lower abdomen. Finally, 36 (48%) were diagnosed as acute appendicitis and were included in the study. There were 20(56%) men and 16(44%) women with age range of 60 to 78 years and a mean age of 65.5 +/- 4.2 years. Associated illness occurred in 25(70%) patients. Symptoms included abdominal pain in 32(90%), nausea in 17(48%), and emesis in 9(25%) patients. Signs included right lower quadrant tenderness in 26(74%) patients, leukocytosis in 17(47.2%), and fever (>99'F) in 11(30.5%). Laparoscopy was used as an important diagnostic as well as therapeutic modality. Of the patients, 9 (25%) had gangrenous appendix, while 12 (33.3%) had perforated appendix. A total of 12 (33.4%) patients developed complications. Hospital stay was considerably increased in patients with a delayed diagnosis (5-7 days), perforations (5-9 days) and postoperative complications (5-15 days). One patient, a known case of ischaemic heart disease, died of cardiopulmonary arrest. CONCLUSION: Acute appendicitis needs to be considered in the differential diagnosis of all patients with abdominal pain. A high index of suspicion is necessary to guard against mis-diagnosis, especially in the elderly. Delays in presentation and diagnosis are associated with higher rates of perforation and, hence, higher morbidity. Repeated clinical examination, a high index of suspicion and urgent investigations are necessary for a correct and rapid diagnosis.

Injection sclerotherapy versus electrocoagulation in the management outcome of early haemorrhoids.

OBJECTIVE: To study the symptomatology of early hemorrhoids and to compare injection sclerotherapy (IS) with electrocoagulation (EC) in the management outcome of early haemorrhoids with respect to pain during the procedure, reduction in bleeding per rectum, and overall patient satisfaction score. METHODS: A total of 102 patients were included in this experimental study at the POF Hospital, Wah Cantt from October 2004 to June 2005. A detailed history was taken and proctoscopic examination was performed. Patients were then randomly divided into two groups (Lottery method). One group was subjected to EC and the other to IS. In the EC, using the EC machine (Wieda, China), direct current of 10-20 mA was applied in the submucosal plane of each pile core for 5-7 minutes. In the IS 1-2 ml of 5% phenol in almond oil was injected in the same plane in each pile core. Pain during the procedure, reduction in bleeding per rectum and overall patient satisfaction, were studied as outcome measures. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 44 years, 86 were males and 16 were females. Two thirds of the patients were having symptoms for more than 6 months. A third of patients had associated local pain while another third had associated mucous discharge. Chronic constipation was present in 81% patients. Only 24.5% of the patients had a positive family history of haemorrhoids. Patients in the electrocoagulation (EC) group experienced more pain during the procedure than the injection sclerotherapy (IS) group (P < 0.000), but EC was significantly more effective than IS in terms of reducing the bleeding per rectum (P = 0.039), and also significantly higher number of patients were fully satisfied with EC than with IS (P < 0.04). CONCLUSION: EC, although more painful, is a safe, more effective and a highly satisfying procedure for treating early hemorrhoids.