Laparoscopic appendectomy is safer than open appendectomy in an elderly population

Abstract

Background and Objectives: This study describes perioperative patient safety outcomes comparing laparoscopic appendectomy with open appendectomy in the elderly population (defined as age ≥65 years) during the diffusion of laparoscopic appendectomy into widespread clinical practice. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of patients undergoing open or laparoscopic appendectomy in the US Nationwide Inpatient Sample, a 20% sample of inpatient discharges from 1056 hospitals, from 1998 to 2009, and used weighted sampling to estimate national trends. Multivariate logistic regression modeling was used to examine the association of laparoscopy with perioperative outcomes. Results: Patients who met the inclusion criteria totaled 257484. Of these, 87 209 (34%) underwent laparoscopic appendectomy. These patients were younger (P