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. 2024 Oct 15;13(20):6137.
doi: 10.3390/jcm13206137.

The Advancement of Appendicitis in Children in the Pre-Pandemic and the Pandemic Year

Marcin Jerzy Owczarzak  1   2   3 , Mateusz Biela  4 , Mateusz Paplicki  2 , Małgorzata Rąpała  1 , Joanna Jakubaszko-Jabłońska  2 , Marzena Kozakiewicz  2 , Piotr Miśkiewicz  2 , Kinga Niewińska  2 , Ewa Joanna Godzińska  5 , Jan Godziński  1   2
Affiliations

The Advancement of Appendicitis in Children in the Pre-Pandemic and the Pandemic Year

Marcin Jerzy Owczarzak et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic affected the health of millions of people, both directly through infection and indirectly through delayed diagnosis and treatment of non-COVID-19 illnesses. The aim of this study was to check the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnosis and treatment of appendicitis in children. Methods: The study was carried out at the Department of Paediatric Surgery of the Marciniak Hospital (Wrocław, Poland) and covered two periods, the pre-pandemic one (P1, 01/03/2019-29/02/2020) and the pandemic one (P2, 01/03/2020-28/02/2021). Results: The number of admissions of patients with suspected appendicitis and observation-only patients decreased during the pandemic (400/289 and 226/160, respectively). Although the number of operated children was similar during both analyzed periods (P1: 174, P2: 160), the rate of surgical interventions was significantly higher during P2 (55.4%) than during P1 (43.5%) (χ2 test: p = 0.00272). The values of the variables quantifying disease progression and severity of inflammation, selected inflammation-related parameters detected by laboratory blood tests, latencies from the onset of symptoms to the admission and from the admission to the operation, and total duration of hospitalization did not differ significantly between the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods. Conclusions: These results show that the COVID-19 pandemic led to more rigorous and careful triage of pediatric patients suspected of acute appendicitis that did not have a negative impact on patient outcomes.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; acute appendicitis; coronavirus; pandemic; pediatric; surgery.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Number of patients hospitalized during the pre-pandemic period (P1) and the pandemic period (P2).
Figure 2
Figure 2
The difference in the operability rates between the pre-pandemic period (P1) and the pandemic period (P2).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Incidence of particular forms of appendicitis in the pre-pandemic period (P1) and the pandemic period (P2).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Comparison of CRP in two subcategories of patients (observed and operated) hospitalized during P1 and P2; CRP—C-reactive protein [mg/L]; P1—pre-pandemic period; P2—pandemic period.
Figure 5
Figure 5
WBC comparison in two subcategories of patients (observed and operated) hospitalized during P1 and P2; WBC—white blood cell [103/µL]; P1—pre-pandemic period; P2—pandemic period.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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