Laparoscopic Appendectomy versus Open Appendectomy in Pediatric Patients

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the present study was to assess the advantages of laparoscopic appendectomy (LA) compared with open appendectomy (OA) in children, regarding outcomes, operative time, length of hospital stay, antibiotic use, and available variables. Background: Appendicitis is a common cause of acute abdominal pain in children. Surgical removal of the appendix by either OA or LA is the treatment of choice. Over last two decades, LA has failed to be considered superior over OA in adults and children. Methods: A retrospective chart review of 1883 pediatric patients (≤ 14 years) diagnosed with acute appendicitis that underwent LA or OA at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Results: A total of 1883 pediatric patients underwent appendectomy (65% male, mean age ten years old). OA surgical approach was performed in 1673 (88.8%) patients with a mean age of 10 ± 2.4. LA was performed in 210 (11.2%) with a mean age of 10.28 ± 2.5.The rates of complication were 3.2% and 5.7% for OA and LA, respectively, with no statistically significant difference (p-value = 0.057). The length of hospital stay was significantly different between OA(3.19 ± 2.3 days) and LA (3.81 ± 2.4 days) (p-value