A Comparative Analysis of Laparoscopic Appendectomy in Relation to the Open Appendectomy in Children / Uporedna Analiza Laparoskopske Apendektomije U Odnosu Na Otvorenu Apendektomiju Kod Dece

Acute inflammation of the appendix in childhood usually requires an appendectomy. Surgical methods are open appendectomy (OA) and laparoscopic appendectomy (LA). Both have the same goal of removing the appendix.

Data collected from the medical records of children who underwent hospitalization and operation for acute appendicitis have been retrospectively analysed and statistically processed. The patients underwent surgery in 2010 at University Children’s Hospital in Belgrade, and the methods that were used were open appendectomy (OA) and laparoscopic appendectomy (LA). The analysed data refer to gender, age, length of hospital stay, surgery duration, use of pain management therapy, and antibiotic therapy, complications during surgery, complications after surgery, re-hospitalizations, and reoperations.

A total of 218 children underwent an appendectomy operation, of which 158 (72.5%) underwent OA and 60 (27.5%) underwent LA. The average age of patients who had OA was 11.44 years, and 10.87 years for those who underwent LA. The surgery duration was significantly longer for LA (45.3 vs. 42.1 minutes, p = 0.003). The total number of postoperative complications was lower in LA (1 vs. 12), but there was no statistically significant difference. The number of hospital stay days was significantly lower in LA (3.48 vs. 5.45 days), with a high statistical difference, p = 0.00.

The advantages of LA compared with OA are shorter hospital stay, lower total number of intraoperative and postoperative complications, and fewer reoperations. The advantage of OA compared with LA is shorter surgery duration.