[Laparoscopic diagnosis in suspected acute appendicitis]

Since introduction of laparoscopic appendectomy we have the possibility to examine the whole abdominal cavity and not only the ileocaecal region and right adnex. The aim of the study is to find out if there is an advantage in laparoscopic diagnostics compared to conventional laparotomy for suspected acute appendicities. We compared prospectively all patients who underwent laparoscopy for acute right lower abdominal pain between August 1991 and March 1993 with a comparable group retrospectively analyzed who underwent conventional appendectomy in 1989. In both groups 20% of patients had a normal appendix. In 1% of the laparoscopically operated patients we couldn't find any pathological findings, in 12% of the conventionally operated group we couldn't find an accurate diagnosis. The average operation time of laparoscopically operated patients without acute appendicities was 20 minutes shorter compared to conventionally operated patients. We found identically results for the duration of hospital stay. The median hospital stay for conventionally operated patients was 6.6 days, for laparoscopically operated patients 4.7 days. The complications were in both groups 1-2%. We conclude that in laparoscopy the diagnostics are more reliable, and with a diagnostic accuracy of almost 100% the unnecessary appendectomy with a higher morbidity would not be necessary in 12% of patients.