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Revista Colombiana de Cirugía
Print version ISSN 2011-7582On-line version ISSN 2619-6107
Abstract
SEGNINI-RODRIGUEZ, Franco J. et al. Study of perioperative outcomes of acute appendicitis during the COVID-19 pandemic: An analytical observational cohort study. rev. colomb. cir. [online]. 2023, vol.38, n.2, pp.300-312. Epub Feb 03, 2023. ISSN 2011-7582. https://doi.org/10.30944/20117582.2281.
Introduction.
COVID-19 pandemic impacted society and health systems worldwide. The institutional adaptations sought to maintain the quality of care in an unfavorable organizational context. Acute appendicitis was required to be managed in a new institutional setting. The effectiveness of surgical treatment of appendicitis during the pandemic was evaluated.
Methods.
Retrospective analytical observational study, in patients with appendectomy, before and during COVID-19 pandemic. Complications, surgical site infections, readmissions, and hospital stay were evaluated. Additionally, the outcomes in the 3 epidemiological peaks of the pandemic were analyzed. Descriptive and analytical statistics were performed between the groups to be compared.
Results.
A total of 1521 patients with appendicitis were included, 48.3% before and 51.7% during the pandemic. There were no differences in complications (p=0.352), operative site infection (p=0.191), readmission at 30 days (p=0.605), and hospital stay (p=0.514) between the groups. Management of appendicitis during the 3rd peak was like usual practices. There was a long evolution time during the pandemic (p=0.04) and the patients were taken to surgery sooner than before the pandemic (p<0.001).
Conclusions.
There was no evidence of an increase in surgical complications, readmissions, hospital stay, and surgical site infections during patients who underwent surgery. There was a favorable effect for patients because of institutional adaptation in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keywords : coronavirus infections; pandemics; appendicitis; health care outcome assessment; length of stay; postoperative complications.