National survey on the treatment of acute appendicitis in Spain during the initial period of the COVID-19 pandemic.

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on Spanish hospitals, which have had to allocate all available resources to treat these patients, reducing the ability to attend other common pathologies. The aim of this study is to analyze how the treatment of acute appendicitis has been affected. METHOD: A national descriptive study was carried out by an online voluntary specific questionnaire with Google Drive™ distributed by email by the Spanish Association of Surgeons (AEC) to all affiliated surgeons currently working in Spain (5203), opened from April 14th to April 24th. RESULTS: We received 337 responses from 170 centers. During the first month of the pandemic, the incidence of acute appendicitis decreased. Although conservative management increased, the surgical option has been the most used in both simple and complicated appendicitis. Despite the fact that the laparoscopic approach continues to be the most widely used in our services, the open approach has increased during this pandemic period. CONCLUSION: Highlight the contribution of this study in terms of knowledge of the status of the treatment of acute appendicitis during this first month of the pandemic, being able to serve for a better possible organization in future waves of the pandemic and a reorganization of current protocols and management of acute appendicitis in a pandemic situation.

Emerging Techniques in Minimally Invasive Surgery. Pros and Cons.

New trends have emerged regarding the best minimally invasive access approaches to perform gastrointestinal surgery. However, these newer approaches are seen critically by those who demand a more strict assessment of outcomes and safety. An international panel of expert gathered at the 2014 American College of Surgeons Meeting with the goal of providing an evidence-based understanding of the real value of these approaches in gastrointestinal surgery. The panel has compared the efficacy and safety of most established approaches to gastrointestinal diseases to those of new treatment modalities: peroral esophageal myotomy vs. laparoscopic myotomy for achalasia, transgastric vs. transvaginal approach, and single-incision vs. multi-port access minimally invasive surgery. The panel found that (1) the outcome of these new approaches was not superior to that of established surgical procedures; (2) the new approaches are generally performed in few highly specialized centers; and (3) transgastric and transvaginal approaches might be safe and feasible in very experienced hands, but cost, training, operative time, and tools seem to limit their application for the treatment of common procedures such as cholecystectomy and appendectomy. Because the expected advantages of new approaches have yet to be proven in controlled trials, new approaches should be considered for adoption into practice only after thorough analyses of their efficacy and effectiveness and appropriate training.

Laparoscopic appendectomy trends and outcomes in the United States: data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), 2004-2011.

Laparoscopic appendectomy (LA) is becoming the standard procedure of choice for appendicitis. We aimed to evaluate the frequency and trends of LA for acute appendicitis in the United States and to compare outcomes of LA with open appendectomy (OA). Using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample database, we examined patients who underwent appendectomy for acute appendicitis from 2004 to 2011. A total of 2,593,786 patients underwent appendectomy during this period. Overall, the rate of LA was 60.5 per cent (children: 58.1%; adults: 63%; elderly: 48.7%). LA rate significantly increased from 43.3 per cent in 2004 to 75 per cent in 2011. LA use increased 66 per cent in nonperforated appendicitis versus 100 per cent increase in LA use for perforated appendicitis. The LA rate increased in all age groups. The increased LA use was more significant in male patients (84%) compared with female patients (62%). The overall conversion rate of LA to OA was 6.3 per cent. Compared with OA, LA had a significantly lower complication rate, a lower mortality rate, a shorter mean hospital stay, and lower mean total hospital charges in both nonperforated and perforated appendices. LA has become an established procedure for appendectomy in nonperforated and perforated appendicitis in all rates exceeding OA. Conversion rate is relatively low (6.3%).

Cost is not a drawback to perform laparoscopic appendectomy in an academic hospital.

Appendectomy is the most frequently performed emergent surgical procedure in western countries. There is still controversy about which alternative is clinically and economically superior: open or laparoscopic appendectomy (LA). Our aim was to determine clinical outcomes and cost of both procedures in our academic institution. A retrospective comparative study was performed including patients undergoing appendectomy from January to December 2011. Demographic data, operating room occupancy time, hospital length of stay, complications, and economic data were obtained. A total of 116 appendectomies were performed along the time of study, 23.27% laparoscopic and 76.72% open. Groups were similar in terms of demographics and intraoperative findings. Operating room occupancy time was longer in laparoscopic group and hospital stay was shorter. No significant differences were found respecting to postoperative complications rate. Cost minimization analysis showed that LA saved 1561.08&OV0556; per patient. In our teaching setting, LA may have clinical and economic advantages over open appendectomy.

Appendicitis and appendectomies among non-service member beneficiaries of the Military Health System, 2002-2011.

Among non-service member beneficiaries of the Military Health System, there were 79,820 cases of appendicitis and 98,385 appendectomies during 2002 to 2011; from the fi rst to last year of the period, the annual number of appendicitis cases increased by 61.1 percent. Perforated acute appendicitis occurred in one quarter of all cases; the proportion of perforated cases was higher among males (30.2%) than females (23.3%). The annual number of total appendectomies decreased during the period; however, outpatient appendectomies increased 5-fold. Th e proportion of inpatient appendectomies that were incidental was greater in females (15.6%) than males (8.8%). During the period, the number of nonincidental appendectomies that were not associated with diagnoses of appendicitis ("negative appendectomies") decreased by 65 percent, and the mean number of inpatient bed days per appendicitis case decreased by one day (21.1%). The findings likely reflect more frequent uses of and advances in diagnostic imaging to detect and characterize appendicitis and a shift in surgical treatment to the outpatient setting with increasing use of laparoscopy for appendectomies.

[Appendicitis in Hungary through the eyes of a health insurance specialist]. / Az appendicitis Magyarországon az egészségbiztosítási szakorvos szemével.

UNLABELLED: Appendicitis is the most common surgical disease. There is a very large literature for both its diagnosis and therapy. AIMS: The author examined whether patients who were admitted with the diagnosis of appendicitis underwent surgery and what admission diagnoses were reported in cases of surgically treated patients. RESULTS: In Hungary, there have been more than 92,000 appendectomies performed in the last eleven years. The proportion of laparoscopic surgery was 2.0% in 2000 and it rose to 18.8% in 2010. Using database of the national health insurance the author found that 5.6% of all surgically treated patients were referred to hospital with a diagnosis other than appendicitis. In contrast, 18.1% of the patients referred to hospital with the diagnosis of appendicitis were discharged without surgery. CONCLUSIONS: In Hungary, there are large regional differences in the proportion of surgery.

Trauma surgery to acute care surgery: defining the paradigm shift.

BACKGROUND: Trauma surgery is gradually evolving into acute care surgery (ACS). We sought to better define this evolution by using work relative value units (wRVU) to characterize the current practices of trauma and ACS. METHODS: Fiscal year 2007-2008 data from the UHC-AAMC Faculty Practice Solutions Center database, which is comprised of coding or billing data from 85 institutions was used. We compared averages for trauma surgeons with general, oncology, and vascular surgeons. RESULTS: Trauma surgeons are distinct from other surgical specialties; only 43% of their total wRVU were procedural compared to 69% to 75% for vascular, surgical oncology, and general surgeons. The total procedures for each specialty were similar: trauma 660, general surgery 715, surgical oncology 713, vascular 835, but trauma surgeons performed more bedside procedures. Of the top 20 total wRVU generating procedures, 20% of trauma surgeon's were bedside compared to 0% of a general surgeon's. The wRVU or surgeon for cholecystectomy were comparable between trauma and general surgery (388 vs. 452); both groups perform about 75% of the cholecystectomies laparoscopically. With respect to appendectomies, wRVU or surgeon for trauma surgeons (180) exceeded general surgeons (128). Each group performed approximately 65% laparoscopically. CONCLUSIONS: Trauma surgeons are distinctly different from their colleagues, with a greater emphasis on intensive care unit "cognitive" work. The number of procedures performed by trauma surgeons is comparable to other disciplines but with more "bedside" procedures. Trauma surgeons' high appendectomy wRVUs may be a reflection of the transition to an ACS model. The characterization of trauma surgery as nonoperative and intensive care unit-based is in part substantiated but there are indications of a paradigm shift toward more operative experience with transition to an ACS model.

Geographic disparities in the risk of perforated appendicitis among children in Ohio: 2001-2003.

BACKGROUND: Rural-urban disparities in health and healthcare are often attributed to differences in geographic access to care and health seeking behavior. Less is known about the differences between rural locations in health care seeking and outcomes. This study examines how commuting patterns in different rural areas are associated with perforated appendicitis. RESULTS: Controlling for age, sex, insurance type, comorbid conditions, socioeconomic status, appendectomy rates, hospital type, and hospital location, we found that patient residence in a rural ZIP code with significant levels of commuting to metropolitan areas was associated with higher risk of perforation compared to residence in rural areas with commuting to smaller urban clusters. The former group was more likely to seek care in an urbanized area, and was more likely to receive care in a Children's Hospital. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this is the first study to differentiate rural dwellers with respect to outcomes associated with appendicitis as opposed to simply comparing "rural" to "urban". Risk of perforated appendicitis associated with commuting patterns is larger than that posed by several individual indicators including some age-sex cohort effects. Future studies linking the activity spaces of rural dwellers to individual patterns of seeking care will further our understanding of perforated appendicitis and ambulatory care sensitive conditions in general.

Acute appendicitis: a descending trend?

AIM: The diagnosis-related group (DRG) system is a prospective hospital payment system used to categorize hospital patients expected to require similar hospital services. In Italy, hospital productivity is calculated from DRG-based data coded according to the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM), which is a classification system for coding of diagnoses and operations for indexing medical records by diagnosis and operations. The aim of our survey was to determine the national incidence of appendectomies based on the coded summary of selected data in hospital discharge reports (HDR). METHODS: The Italian Ministry of Health online database was searched for data collected between 2001 and 2003. The search engine allows analysis by different regions but not by individual hospital. The national incidence of appendectomy was calculated using data collected from the ICD-9-CM and from the HDR. In a deeper analysis, regional data and data from individual hospitals were compared. RESULTS: The analysis revealed the incidence of appendectomy, rates of simple acute appendicitis vs complicated appendicitis, common laparotomic appendectomy vs laparoscopic appendectomy, as well as mean duration of hospitalization. CONCLUSION: The incidence of acute appendicitis has considerably decreased, whereas the rates of complicated appendicitis have increased because of longer diagnostic and therapeutic delay, inappropriate antibiotic therapy and upclassifying of diagnosis and procedures in the HDR (ICD-9-CM) in order to obtain a ''wider impact'' on DRG.

[Current status of treatment of appendicitis. Results of 2 prospective multicenter studies in East Germany. East German Working Group "Outcome Assessment and Quality Assurance in Surgery" of the CAQ of the German Society of Surgery]. / Zur aktuellen Behandlungssituation der Appendizitis. Ergebnisse von zwei prospektiven Multizenterstudien in Ostdeutschland. Ostdeutsche Arbeitsgruppe "Leistungserfassung und Qualitätssicherung in der Chirurgie" der CAQ der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Chirurgie.

In a period of 10 years we carried out two prospective multicentric trials to evaluate the state of the art in treatment of appendicitis. One study was performed before introduction of laparoscopy. Important criteria like new diagnostic methods (sonography, laparoscopy), frequency of operation, perforation rate, frequency of appendectomies in case of non acute inflammation and postoperative complications were compared.

Appendicectomy in Scotland: a 20-year epidemiological comparison.

BACKGROUND: The objective of the research was to study the pattern of appendicectomies in Scotland over the last 20 years. METHOD: Routine National Health Service data on patients discharged after appendicectomy in Scotland during 1973-1993 were analysed. RESULTS: For all ages, the appendicectomy rate has fallen steadily from 1.97 per 1000 (10,325 operations) in 1973 to 0.96 per 1000 (4906 operations) in 1993. The proportion of emergency operations increased from 76 to 80 per cent. The median age at operation rose from 18 to 22 years. The proportion of male patients remained higher for emergency operations, whereas the proportion of females, and age at operation, were both higher for non-emergency appendicectomies. In the period 1992-1995, appendicectomy rates were higher for patients with postcodes in areas of greater deprivation, particularly for children aged 0-14 years. Variation in childhood appendicectomy rates across Scotland has declined: apart from Ayrshire and Arran, which had a lower than expected rate, no Health Board had a rate significantly different from the rate in the rest of Scotland in 1993. The case fatality rate fell from 7.0 per 1000 to 1.6 per 1000 (with all the latter deaths in elderly patients). CONCLUSION: Over the last 20 years, appendicectomy rates have declined in Scotland and there is now greater uniformity of childhood appendicectomy rates across Scotland.