Abstract

Objective: In this study, it was aimed to compare the demographic data, appendectomy rates, length of hospital stay and histopathological evaluation results of patients who had appendectomy in the pre-Covid and post-Covid period in the pediatric age group.

Methods: Patients who had appendectomy between March 2019 and March 2021 were retrospectively screened. The age, gender, length of hospital stay and histopathological evaluation results of the patients were compared.

Results: : In the pre-Covid group, there were 103 (19.1%) patients with complicated appendicitis, 388 (72.1%) uncomplicated, and 47 (8.7%) patients with negative appendectomy. In the postCovid group, there were 53 (11%) patients who were complicated, 393 (81.4%) uncomplicated, and 37 (7.7%) patients who had negative appendectomy. When the histopathological diagnoses of the two groups were compared, it was found statistically significant that the rate of uncomplicated appendectomy increased during the post-Covid period (p<0.05).

The mean age of uncomplicated appendectomy rate in the pre-Covid patient group was found to be statistically higher, which is significant (p<0.05). The mean age of the patients with complicated appendicitis was 11.09 (±3.77), the mean age of the uncomplicated appendicitis was 12.22 (±3.74), and the mean age of the patients with negative appendectomy was 10.02 (±4.29).

Conclusion: In our study, the rate of uncomplicated appendicitis increased during the pandemic period. The reason for this is that the rate of admission to the hospital has not decreased due to the low socioeconomic and educational levels of the patients and the lack of awareness of the pandemic probably. Since hospitals only provide emergency services, patients can be evaluated faster and surgeons only perform emergency surgeries, allowing patients to be operated faster.

Cite as: Anadolulu Aİ. Covid-19 pandemisinin pediyatrik yaş grubunda apandisite etkisi. Coc Cer Derg/Turkish J Ped Surg 2022;36(1): 11-14. doi: 10.29228/JTAPS.55769