Relationship between the Duration of Symptoms and Operative Findings in Pediatric Patients Undergoing Appendectomy for Acute Appendicitis
Symptom Duration and Operative Findings in Pediatric Appendicitis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54393/pjhs.v7i10.4103Keywords:
Appendicitis, Appendectomy, Intraoperative Findings, Complicated AppendicitisAbstract
Acute appendicitis is a common surgical emergency in children. The relationship between duration of preoperative symptoms and severity of intraoperative findings remains debated. Objective: To compare the duration of preoperative symptoms between pediatric patients with complicated and uncomplicated intraoperative findings undergoing appendectomy for acute appendicitis. Methods: This analytical cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Pediatric Surgery. A total of 171 children aged 2–12 years with acute appendicitis were recruited through non-probability consecutive sampling. Intraoperative findings were categorized as uncomplicated or complicated appendicitis, and duration of preoperative symptoms was categorized as ≤48 hours or >48 hours. Data were analyzed in SPSS version 26.0 using chi-square and t-tests (p ≤ 0.05). Results: Among 171 patients, 65 (38.0%) presented within ≤48 hours and 106 (62.0%) after >48 hours. Complicated appendicitis was observed in 126 (73.7%) patients, and uncomplicated appendicitis in 45 (26.3%). In the complicated group, 46 (36.5%) presented within ≤48 hours and 80 (63.5%) after >48 hours; in the uncomplicated group, 19 (42.2%) presented within ≤48 hours and 26 (57.8%) after >48 hours. The distribution of symptom duration did not differ significantly between the complicated and uncomplicated groups (p=0.498). Older age (10.29 ± 1.79 vs. 8.95 ± 2.62 years; p<0.001) before appendicitis (19.8%vs.4.4%; p=0.009) was significantly associated with complicated findings. Conclusion: Complicated appendicitis was the most frequently observed intraoperative finding. Increased age and a prior history of appendicitis were significantly linked to complicated disease, whereas the duration of symptoms before surgery was not significantly related to disease severity.
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