A Clinical Review in 1,108 Cases of Suspected Appendicitis: with Focusing on the Characteristics of Reproductive Age Women

Lee, Jae Hyeok; Jo, Sung Ho; Kim, Jae Sun; Lee, Che Young; Lee, Sang Il; Noh, Seung Moo

Abstract

PURPOSE: Appendicitis is the most common abdominal surgical emergency. The diagnosis of appendicitis can be difficult, occasionally taxing the diagnostic skills of even the most experienced surgeon, and especially for diagnosing reproductive women. This study was designed to evaluate the various pathologies of the appendix and the other intraabdominal organs in patients who were preoperatively diagnosed with acute appendicitis, and we wanted to analyze the difference of the perioperative results between the reproductive women and the other patients.
METHODS
The study was a retrospective analysis of 1,108 appendectomies that were performed from September 2003 to August 2006. The data were analyzed for the following parameters: the age-related and sex-related incidence of acute appendicitis, the rates of negative appendectomy, negative operation and appendicular perforation, and the incidence of other encountered pathologies. In addition, we present the clinical results of the reproductive women.
RESULTS
The diagnostic accuracy for acute appendicitis was 87.2%. The negative appendectomy rate was 11.6% and it was significantly higher (20.8%) in the reproductive women than in the male patients of the same age (P=0.001). On the clinical analyses of the reproductive aged appendicitis group showed they a shorter pain duration and a higher WBC count, and more frequent epigastric discomfort, nausea, vomiting and RLQ tenderness (P< 0.05).
CONCLUSION
We noted a high rate of negative appendectomy among reproductive female patients, so more care should be taken to diagnose these patients.