Frequency of Perforated Appendicitis in Times of COVID-19

Completed

• Conditions: Perforated Appendicitis; Covid19
• Interventions: Other: appendectomy

• Registration Number: NCT04472052
• Lead Sponsor: University Hospital Tuebingen

Brief Summary

Appendicitis is one of the most common clinical conditions in general surgery. The diagnosis is usually made from clinical examination, imaging (sonography or CT) and laboratory parameters. The laparoscopic appendectomy without drainage has established as the gold standard. Patients usually leave the hospital two days after surgery.

In times of corona crisis, patients are unsure to visit the hospital because of fear of infection with SARS-CoV-2. A higher incidence of perforated appendicitis could be an indicator for fear-related delay of going to the hospital.

Methods: Investigators performed a retrospective analysis on the incidence of perforated appendicitis in a 10-week interval (mid-March to end of May) of the years 2018, 2019 and 2020 to evaluate possible changes in times of corona crisis. Intraoperative findings, procedures, complications and the length of hospital stay were considered.

Detailed Description

The local ethics committee of the University Hospital of Tübingen, Germany, approved this study (AZ: 324/2020BO2). All patients treated for acute appendicitis in a ten week period from 16th of March to 31th of May in 2018, 2019 and 2020 were considered for the study. Investigators analysed the frequency of perforated appendicitis in the periods indicated. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants. Patient's records as well as database were analyzed for therapy specific items.

Definition Perforation: Perforated appendicitis was defined as described perforation in the surgical or pathological results.

Delay between onset of symptoms and first presentation at the hospital: Patient's records were proved for self-declaration about the start of symptoms

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2020-03-16
• Primary Completion: 2020-05-31
• Study Completion: 2020-05-31
• Status Verified: 2020-07
• Study First Submitted: 2020-07-10
• Study First Submitted QC: 2020-07-14
• Last Update Submitted: 2020-07-14
• Study First Posted: 2020-07-15
• Last Update Posted: 2020-07-15

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 143

Inclusion Criteria

• patients with acute appendicitis older than 16 years
• appendectomy in time frame 16th of march to 30th of May in the Years 2018, 2019 and 2020

Exclusion Criteria

• patients with acute appendicitis younger than 16 years
• appendectomy not in the named time frames

Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Appendectomy	appendectomy	Patients who required appendectomy for suspected acute appendicitis

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
rate of perforated appendicitis	10 weeks from 16th of March to 31th of May

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University Hospital of Tuebingen; 🇩🇪 Tuebingen, Germany