Prolonged length of stay and many readmissions after appendectomy.

Introduction: The epidemiology of appendicitis seems to be changing; the proportion of complicated appendicitis cases is growing. The outcome of childhood appendectomy in Denmark has not previously been evaluated nationwide in Denmark.

Material and methods: Data on all Danish children treated for appendicitis were obtained from the National Patient Registry. Reoperation, readmittance or length of hospital stay (LOS) exceeding five days were considered nonsatisfactory outcomes.

Results: A total of 2,617 children, 55% boys and 45% girls, were operated at 32 hospitals. Their mean age was 11.1 years. Mortality was 0%. A laparoscopic procedure was used in 34% of the cases. The medians of the postoperative LOS were one day for both the open and laparoscopic appendectomy groups, the corresponding means were 2.5 and 2.0 days (p<0.05). 4.5% had one or more reoperations. 18% had a LOS>5 days or readmittance. The typical reasons were wound infection, need for prolonged antibiotics treatment and simple, prolonged recovery.

Conclusion: The Danish practice for appendicitis has acceptable rates of reoperation, medians and means of LOS, and a rate of readmission which is comparable to that reported in other studies. However, a nonsatisfactory outcome after appendectomy in about 20% calls for improvement and further studies.

Funding: Not relevant.

Trial registration: Not relevant.