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Impact of previous abdominal surgery on laparoscopic appendectomy for acute appendicitis

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Abstract

Background

Laparoscopic appendectomy is one of the most commonly performed laparoscopic procedures. Impact of previous abdominal surgery on laparoscopic appendectomy has not been previously reported.

Methods

From January 2001 to December 2005, 2029 patients with clinically suspected acute appendicitis underwent laparoscopic surgery in our hospital. Of these, 234 patients (11.5%) were found to have other pathology by intraoperative or histologic findings and were excluded from the study. The 1795 patients who underwent laparoscopic appendectomy for acute appendicitis were divided into three groups: group 1, patients without a history of previous abdominal surgery (n = 1652, 92%); group 2, patients with a history of upper abdominal surgery (n = 20, 1.1%); group 3, patients with a history of lower abdominal surgery (n = 123, 6.8%). Data were collected retrospectively by chart review and analyzed for conversion rate, operative time, intraoperative and postoperative complications, and hospital stay.

Results

Of the 1795 patients, 13 (0.7%) were converted to open appendectomy because of technical difficulty. Overall mean operative time was 57.2 (range, 20–225) min. There was no mortality or intraoperative complications. Overall postoperative complication rate was 10.7% (n = 193): rate of surgical wound infection was 8.2 % (n = 147), surgical wound seroma 1.3% (n = 24), and intra-abdominal abscess 0.8% (n = 14). Overall postoperative hospital stay averaged 3.2 (range, 0–39) days. There were no significant differences between the three groups regarding the conversion rate (0.8% vs. 0% vs. 0%, p = 0.567), operative time (57.3 vs. 55.8 vs. 56.9 min, p = 0.962), postoperative complication rates (10.7 vs. 10 vs. 12.2%, p = 0.863), and hospital stay (3.2 vs. 3.6 vs. 3.1 days, p = 0.673).

Conclusions

Previous abdominal surgery, whether upper or lower abdominal, has no significant impact on laparoscopic appendectomy for acute appendicitis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

    Jiann-Ming Wu, Heng-Fu Lin, Kuo-Hsin Chen, Li-Ming Tseng & Shih-Horng Huang

  2. Department of Surgery, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan

    Ming-Shian Tsai

  3. Department of Surgery, Far-Eastern Memorial Hospital, 21, Sec. 2, Nan-Ya South Rd, Pan-Chiao, Taipei, Taiwan

    Shih-Horng Huang

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  1. Jiann-Ming Wu
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  2. Heng-Fu Lin
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  3. Kuo-Hsin Chen
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  4. Li-Ming Tseng
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  6. Shih-Horng Huang
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Correspondence to Shih-Horng Huang.

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Wu, JM., Lin, HF., Chen, KH. et al. Impact of previous abdominal surgery on laparoscopic appendectomy for acute appendicitis. Surg Endosc 21, 570–573 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-006-9027-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-006-9027-5

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