Abstract

SANABRIA, Álvaro et al. Time and risk of rupture in acute appendicitis. rev. colomb. cir. [online]. 2013, vol.28, n.1, pp.24-30. ISSN 2011-7582.

Introduction. Acute appendicitis is the most common surgical condition faced by surgeons. Relationship between time of symptomatology and the development of complications (rupture or peritonitis) has been assumed to be lineal, but there is no evidence supporting this belief. The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between time of symptoms of appendicitis and the development of complications. Materials and methods. A cohort study was designed based on data from a previously published study by the authors that evaluated patients with lower abdominal pain suggesting appendicitis. Gold standard for diagnosis was the histopathology report. Time of symptoms in hours was determined and compared with complication rates of acute appendicitis. Results. 206 patients were included (59,7% male). Time of symptoms in the group of uncomplicated acute appendicitis was 28,1 ±22,9 versus 26,5 ±33,4 hours in ruptured appendicitis (p <0,001). There was no lineal correlation between time and symptomatology and perforation. Discussion. It has been generally stated that there is a lineal relationship time of symptomatology and the rate of rupture in patients with acute appendicitis. Our results show that independent of the time of symptomatology, the frequency of uncomplicated appendicitis is stable and that there exist others factors not related with timing that can determine rupture in acute appendicitis.

Keywords : appendicitis; complications; clinical evolution; appendectomy.

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