Outcomes after laparoscopic treatment of complicated versus uncomplicated acute appendicitis: a prospective,...

Laparoscopic treatment of simple acute appendicitis (AA) is a safe procedure; however, there are doubts about its safety in cases of complicated AA. The aim of this study was to determine the differences in results of laparoscopic treatment between cases of complicated versus simple AA.

We prospectively included all patients treated for suspected AA by two surgeons of our service between May 2002 and May 2007. Of 221 patients, 20 were excluded from the study because the laparoscopic approach was not possible; 116 of 201 had uncomplicated AA, 57 complicated AA, 12 gynecologic ethiology, 11 negative appendectomy, and 5 other causes; patients without acute appendicitis were also excluded from the study. In all cases, laparoscopy was the first treatment option. The following variables were considered: mean surgical time, reconversions, emergency readmissions, emergency reinterventions or invasive procedures, mean postoperative hospital stay, and postoperative complications (i.e., infectious or noninfectious).

Our results showed statistically significantly worse results, in terms of surgical time, postoperative stay, reconversions, and infectious complications, for patients with complicated versus uncomplicated AA; however, no differences were observed regarding noninfectious complications, emergency readmissions, and emergency reinterventions or invasive procedures.

We consider that laparoscopic treatment of complicated AA may be safely used, despite worse results than in cases of simple AA, since the differences in numbers of severe postoperative complications requiring emergency readmission, reintervention, or invasive procedures were not statistically significant.