Back ground : Appendectomy can be performed using either a laparoscopic as milder forms of oppendiditis, especially in women, were more likely to
be treated by laparoscopy. Savings from the slightly shorter hospital stay
after laparoscopic appende^tomy are offset by the higher sw-gioal cost of
the laparoscopic equipment.
or an open technique. This study compares the out come of pa
tients treated for acute appendicitis by open appendectomy with the out
come of those undergoing laparoscopic appendectomy.
Methods : Patients undergoing appendectomy at Benha university
Hospitals between January 1998 and Sept. 2001 were studied. Out come
of patients having open appendectomy was compared with that of pa
tents having laparoscopic appendectomy.
Results: Three hundred seventy nine (379) patients underwent appen
dectomy for acute appendicitis during the above mentioned period. One
hundred thirty (130) pats. (34.3%) had open appendectomy and 249
(65.7%) had Laparoscopic appendectomy. Patients subsequently found to
have a normal appendix had the highest rate of laparoscopic appendecto
my, wtiereas those with gqhgreppusappendicitis were most,likely to
have open appendectomy (P<0.05). There was a significant decline in the
postoperative length of stay for open cases during the length of the study.
In the final year, the difference in length of stay between open and la- .
paroscopic appendectomy was only 1 day. Patients with gangnenous ap
pendicitis had a significantly longer length of stay than did patients with
a normal appendix or suppurative appendicitis.
The hospital cost of laparoscopic appendectomy was greater than that
for open appendectomy, but the extra expenditure in the operating room
was offset by the longer length of stay of the patients having open sur
gery.
Conclusion: Differences in outcome between open and laparoscopic
appendectomy are minor. In this study, more d^fficult cases with gangre
nous appendicitis were more likely to require open appendectomy where |
