The Decreasing Incidence of Acute Appendicitis During COVID-19: A Retrospective Multi-centre Study

123Citations
Citations of this article
208Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.
Get full text

Abstract

Background: As the novel coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) spreads, a decrease in the number of patients with acute appendicitis (AA) has been noted in our institutions. The aim of this study was to compare the incidence and severity of AA before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A retrospective cohort analysis was performed between December 2019 and April 2020 in the four high-volume centres that provide health care to the municipality of Jerusalem, Israel. Two groups were created. Group A consisted of patients who presented in the 7 weeks prior to COVID-19 first being diagnosed, whilst those in the 7 weeks after were allocated to Group B. A comparison was performed between the clinicopathological features of the patients in each group as was the changing incidence of AA. Results: A total of 378 patients were identified, 237 in Group A and 141 in Group B (62.7% vs. 37.3%). Following the onset of COVID-19, the weekly incidence of AA decreased by 40.7% (p = 0.02). There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of the length of preoperative symptoms or surgery, need for postoperative peritoneal drainage or the distribution of complicated versus uncomplicated appendicitis. Conclusions: The significant decrease in the number of patients admitted with AA during the onset of COVID-19 possibly represents successful resolution of mild appendicitis treated symptomatically by patients at home. Further research is needed to corroborate this assumption and identify those patients who may benefit from this treatment pathway.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Tankel, J., Keinan, A., Blich, O., Koussa, M., Helou, B., Shay, S., … Reissman, P. (2020). The Decreasing Incidence of Acute Appendicitis During COVID-19: A Retrospective Multi-centre Study. World Journal of Surgery, 44(8), 2458–2463. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-020-05599-8

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free