Is there a place for conservative treatment of acute appendicitis?

Abstract EN

Acute appendicitis is the most common acute surgical condition of the abdomen.

The diagnosis of acute appendicitis continues to present clinicians with problems despite the advances in the investigating technology.

This retrospective study aims to review appendiceal histopathological records in a district hospital in Makkah in 2007.

The study was based on all appendices removed during emergency appendectomies to identify the proportion of normal and mildly inflamed appendices, in addition to their sex ratio, so that a prospective study can be carried out with conservative treatment with antibiotics, if justified.

The records were divided into negative, mild and severely inflamed or perforated appendix.

The number of the operations was 405, with nearly equal male and female ratio.

The ratio of normal appendix was 24.2%, mild appendicitis was 26.4%, and severe appendicitis was 49.4%.

Over 50% of all emergency appendectomies were performed on normal or mildly inflamed appendix, which rises to over 60% in females alone.

The number of the males with severe appendicitis is nearly 50% more than that of the females.

Patients, especially females, with normal or mildly inflamed appendix, if identified before surgery, may benefit from conservative treatment with antibiotics.