Appendicitis is a severe disease in elderly patients: A twenty-year audit

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Life expectancy has increased substantially. Elderly patients currently represent a large part of patients requiring emergency abdominal surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate the post-operative outcomes of elderly patients who underwent appendectomy in a single French tertiary center. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical re-cords of all patients who underwent appendectomy for acute appendicitis between January 1, 1994 and Decem-ber 31, 2014. We used the French threshold of ≥ 75 y-old to define elderly patients. Hence, elderly patients who underwent appendectomy were compared to the younger group. Results: During the study period, 2,060 consecutive patients underwent appendectomy for acute appendicitis. Laparoscopic appendectomy was performed in 52% of cases. Similar rates of laparoscopic approach were re-corded in both groups, but conversion to open surgery was six times more frequent in elderly patients (17% vs. 3%; P < 75 y and 6.15% for elderly patients (P