Long-term results on the severity of acute appendicitis during COVID-19 pandemic

Elizabeth Santone; Francesca Izzo; Karina Lo; Aixa M Pérez Coulter; Nicolas Jabbour; Georgios Orthopoulos

doi:10.1016/j.sopen.2022.03.005

Long-term results on the severity of acute appendicitis during COVID-19 pandemic

Surg Open Sci. 2022 Jul:9:1-6. doi: 10.1016/j.sopen.2022.03.005. Epub 2022 Mar 24.

Authors

Elizabeth Santone¹, Francesca Izzo¹, Karina Lo¹, Aixa M Pérez Coulter¹, Nicolas Jabbour¹, Georgios Orthopoulos¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Surgery, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School-Baystate Medical Center, 759 Chestnut St, Springfield, MA 01199, USA.

Abstract

Background: Acute appendicitis cases increased in severity following COVID-19-related restrictions in March, 2020. We investigated if similar changes occurred during Wave 2.

Methods: Acute appendicitis patients during Wave 1 were grouped 8 weeks before (Group A) and after (Group B) stay-at-home restrictions were initiated on March 15, 2020. Cases in Wave 2 were grouped 8 weeks before (Group C) and after (Group D) November 6, 2020. Groups were compared to equivalent time frames in 2018/2019.

Results: Group A versus B revealed 42.6% decrease (confidence interval: - 59.4 to - 25.7) in uncomplicated appendicitis and 21.1% increase (confidence interval: 4.8-37.3) in perforated appendicitis. Similar patterns were noted comparing Group C versus D without statistical significance. The changes seen in Wave 1 were significantly different than in 2018/2019. This trend continued in Wave 2.

Conclusion: Similar to Wave 1, acute appendicitis cases increased in severity during wave 2 of COVID-19, but with less prominence.