Abstract
Background: Neonatal appendicitis (NA) is rarely diagnosed due to lack of specific symptoms and signs. The aim of this study is to share our experience with NA.Methods: We performed a retrospective data review from electronic medical records of patients admitted at Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University (CHCMU) with the clinical diagnosis of NA from October 2001 to July 2018.Results: Of 31 neonates, male neonates (n=20) accounted for 64.5%. Abdominal distension and anorexia were the most common clinical features (61.3%, n=19). Neonates with elevated C- reactive protein (CRP) accounted for 92.6% (n=25) where as 51.6% (n=16) had normal white blood cell count (WBC). Of 29 neonates who underwent surgery, 69% (n=20) had perforated appendicitis.Conclusion: Neonatal appendicitis lacks specific clinical features, and early diagnosis is difficult. Clinicians need to have high index of suspicion when attending neonates with features of abdominal sepsis.
Highlights
Acute appendicitis is extremely rare in neonatal age group.[1,2,3]
The Clinical features of Neonatal appendicitis (NA) are very atypical, which leads to misdiagnosis and delayed treatment.[4,6]
Demography: Of the 31 patients with NA, male predominated with a male to female ration of 1.8:1
Summary
Acute appendicitis is extremely rare in neonatal age group.[1,2,3] It accounts for an estimated 0.04–0.2% of childhood appendicitis.[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11] The Clinical features of NA are very atypical, which leads to misdiagnosis and delayed treatment.[4,6] In addition, perforation of NA is more common, that results in high morbidity and mortality.[2,6,7,8,9,10].The aim of this study was to assess clinical features, investigations and management of NA. Acute appendicitis is extremely rare in neonatal age group.[1,2,3] It accounts for an estimated 0.04–0.2% of childhood appendicitis.[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11] The Clinical features of NA are very atypical, which leads to misdiagnosis and delayed treatment.[4,6] In addition, perforation of NA is more common, that results in high morbidity and mortality.[2,6,7,8,9,10]. Neonatal appendicitis (NA) is rarely diagnosed due to lack of specific symptoms and signs. Conclusion: Neonatal appendicitis lacks specific clinical features, and early diagnosis is difficult. Clinicians need to have high index of suspicion when attending neonates with features of abdominal sepsis
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