Acute appendicitis during the spring COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 - a comparative retrospective study

Area of Science:

• Surgery
• Infectious Diseases
• Public Health

Background:

• Acute appendicitis (AA) is a common surgical emergency.
• The COVID-19 pandemic presented challenges to healthcare systems globally.
• Understanding the pandemic's impact on AA diagnosis and management is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnosis of AA.
• To evaluate changes in symptom duration, inflammatory markers, and hospital stay for AA patients.
• To compare pre-pandemic and pandemic periods for AA patient outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of AA patients from March-June 2019 (pre-pandemic) and March-June 2020 (pandemic).
• Data collected included demographics, symptom duration, inflammatory markers, surgical methods, antibiotic treatment, and hospital stay.
• Statistical comparison using unpaired t-test and Welch's t-test.

Main Results:

• No significant differences were observed in symptom duration between the two groups.
• Laboratory inflammatory marker levels showed no significant changes.
• Hospital stay duration and histopathological findings remained similar pre- and during the pandemic.

Conclusions:

• The study found no statistically significant differences in AA patient outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period.
• Timely diagnosis and management of acute appendicitis were not demonstrably affected by the pandemic in this cohort.
• Further research may be needed to confirm these findings across different healthcare settings.