MANAGEMENT OF ACUTE APPENDICITIS DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN CROATIA: A SINGLE-CENTER STUDY/ZBRINJAVANJE AKUTNOG APENDICITISA TIJEKOM PANDEMIJE COVID-19 U HRVATSKOJ: ISKUSTVO JEDNE USTANOVE

• Published in: Acta Clinica Croatica 2023, Vol.62 (4), p.724
• Main Authors: Glavcic, Goran, Misir, Zvonimir, Jankovic, Suzana, Bilic, Zdenko, Radulovic, Petra, Blazevic, Nina, Glavcic, Marin
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Subjects: Appendicitis; Care and treatment; Control; Croatia; Epidemics; Forecasts and trends; Hospital care; Social aspects
• ISSN: 0353-9466
• DOI: 10.20471/acc.2023.62.04.19

The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of patients presenting to the emergency room with acute appendicitis and subsequent results of surgical treatment. Our single center retrospective study was conducted in Sestre milosrdnice University Hospital Center, Zagreb, Croatia. We analyzed data on the patients diagnosed with acute appendicitis, their duration of symptoms, length of hospital stay, histopathologic diagnosis, and operative techniques, recorded from September 1, 2019 to October 17, 2020. The results showed a statistically significant increase in the ratio of open laparotomies (p=0.006) and ratio of perforated appendicitis (p=0.047) during the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to the pre-pandemic period. The time between symptom onset and hospitalization, measured in days, did not demonstrate a statistically significant increase (p=0.379), and minor increase in the postoperative length of stay was not statistically significant either (p=0.879). Key words: Appendicitis; Emergency surgery; CO VED-19; Pandemic Cilj ove studije bio je procijeniti utjecaj pandemije COVID-19 na broj bolesnika koji su dolazili u hitnu slu bu s akutnim apendicitisom te na rezultate daljnjeg kirur kog lijecenja. Studija je provedena u KBC "Sestre milosrdnice", Zagreb, Hrvatska. Retrospektivno smo analizirali podatke bolesnika ukljucujuci trajanje simptoma, duljinu hospitalizacije, patohistolo ku dijagnozu i operativni pristup u razdoblju od 1. rujna 2019. do 17. listopada 2020. godine. Na a studija je zabilje ila statisticki znacajan porast udjela otvorenih laparotomija (p=0,006) te udjela perforirajucih apendicitisa (p=0,047) za vrijeme pandemije COVID-19 u odnosu na razdoblje prije pandemije. Nije bilo statisticki znacajnog odstupanja u vremenu od nastupa simptoma do hospitalizacije (p=0,379), kao ni statisticki znacajne promjene duljine hospitalizacije nakon operacije (p=0,879). Kljucne rijeci: Apendicitis; Hitna kirurgija; COVID-19; Pandemija