A PROSPECTIVE COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN EARLY AND INTERVAL APPENDICECTOMY FOR APPENDICULAR MASS

Abstract

Acute appendicitis remains the most common cause of acute abdomen requiring surgical intervention. Patients presenting late in acute appendicitis are complicated by the development of an inammatory mass in the right iliac fossa. The treatment of appendicular mass is controversial. However, 1 there are several other management options for appendicular mass. Traditionally, these patients are managed conservatively, followed by interval appendicectomy 4-6 weeks later. Advocates of the initial conservative approach claim a lower rate of complications compared to the early 2 operative approach. Objective: To study the safety and feasibility of emergency appendicectomy for appendicular mass by comparing the complications, morbidity and mortality with conservatively treated patients. Materials & Methods: This is a prospective and comparative study conducted at Gitam Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Visakhapatnam, from January 2018 to December 2019. A total of 60 patients with appendicular mass were divided into two groups of 30 each. Group I included patients who underwent emergency appendicectomy, while Group II consisted of patients who were managed conservatively. Results:In this study, patients' mean age was 27.58 yrs with a male to female ratio of 2.66:1. Intraoperative ndings in Group I - 20(70%) cases had simple mass, 8(26.66%) had adhesions and loculated pus in 2(6%). In Group II, 14(53.84%) patients had normal ndings, 4(15.38%) cases had simple mass, 6(23%) had adhesions, 1(3.84%) had loculated pus and adhesive intestinal obstruction. Postoperatively, In Group I, 3(10%) patients had wound infection, and 1(3.33%) patient developed fecal stula, which was managed conservatively. In Group II, 2(6.66) patients had wound infection, 4(13.33%) had failure of conservative treatment, four had lost follow-up, 3 had respiratory tract infection, and one patient developed intestinal obstruction due to adhesions. Mean length of hospital stay was 5.3 days in Group I and 8.5 days in Group II. Fewer complications, reduced number of days of parenteral medication, and reduced duration of total hospital stay were noted in Group I compared to Group II, indicating that emergency appendicectomy is a safe and feasible method of managing patients with appendicular mass.