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Are only a few hours adequate for hospitalisation following mini-incision open appendectomy in paediatric patients?
Paiboon Sookpotarom1, Vichack Chakrapan Na Ayudhya1, Vorapatu Tangsirapat1
1Department of Surgery, Panyananthaphikkhu Chonprathan Medical Center, Srinakharinwirot University, Nonthaburi, Thailand.
Insights
Pediatric patients with acute simple appendicitis can be discharged within 3 hours after open appendectomy. This rapid discharge strategy for pediatric appendectomy is feasible and may reduce hospital costs.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Surgery
- Gastrointestinal Surgery
Background:
- Open appendectomy is a common procedure for acute simple appendicitis in children.
- Short hospital stays following pediatric open appendectomy have not been extensively documented.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the feasibility of very short hospital stays for pediatric patients undergoing open appendectomy for acute simple appendicitis.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective review of medical records for 115 pediatric patients who underwent open appendectomy.
- Data collected included patient age, incision length, and length of hospital stay.
Main Results:
- 84 patients had inflammatory or suppurative appendicitis with surgery via McBurney's point.
- Average age was 9.11 ± 2.67 years; mean incision length was 1.95 ± 0.48 cm.
- Nearly one-third (25/85) discharged within 3 hours; 9 more discharged same day; increasing eligibility for early discharge yearly.
Conclusions:
- Immediate discharge within 3 hours is feasible for children with acute simple appendicitis treated with open appendectomy.
- This practice may reduce hospital resources and expenses.
Background:
A very short hospital length of stay following an open appendectomy in children with acute simple appendicitis has never been mentioned yet in the literature. The authors reviewed the outcome of these paediatric patients who were treated with the open technique.
Materials And Methods:
In this analytical cohort observational study, we retrospectively reviewed the medical records of the 115 consecutive patients who underwent open appendectomy from June 2017 to July 2021.
Results:
There were 84 patients whose appendices were inflammatory or suppurative and appendectomies were done only through McBurney's point. Of these, the average age was 9.11 ± 2.67 years. The mean length of the incision was 1.95 ± 0.48 cm. Nearly one-third (25/85) were discharged within 3 h following surgery. Of the remaining cases, nine patients were discharged within the same day. There were increased percentages of patients who were eligible for early discharge in each consecutive year.
Conclusion:
The idea of immediate discharge within 3 h seems to be feasible for children with acute simple appendicitis who were treated with open appendectomy. We believe that the practice will be widely acknowledged and proceed to reduce the resources and the expenses in the hospital.
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