Patients' attitudes toward negative appendectomies and surgery for suspected appendicitis: a qualitative interview study.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: From a surgeon's perspective, appendicitis is treated with appendectomy and sometimes a normal appendix is removed. This study aimed to investigate the patients' perspectives on having surgery but not appendicitis and their involvement in treatment decisions. METHODS: This study is reported according to the COnsolidated criteria for REporting Qualitative research (COREQ) guideline. Eligible participants either had a normal diagnostic laparoscopy with no resection of the appendix or a negative appendectomy confirmed by histopathology. Interviews were conducted using a semi-structured interview guide and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed using content analysis. RESULTS: This study consisted of 15 interviews. Analysis of the interviews resulted in the formulation of four categories (1) discovering the results of the histopathology report, (2) thoughts on having a normal appendix removed or left in situ, (3) the scarce use of shared decision-making, and (4) general anesthesia and the risk of a burst appendix made the participants nervous. CONCLUSION: The amount of information communicated to the patients before and after surgery was sparse. The participants were not aware of the histopathology results and the participants were not involved in decision-making and were generally anxious about anesthesia and a burst appendix.