Early surgery for appendicular lump in pediatric patients is still safe.

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the outcomes of early surgical management of appendicular lump in pediatric patients. Study Design: Prospective Observational study. Setting: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Ghulam Muhammad Mahar Medical College Sukkur. Period: January 2019 to December 2020. Material & Methods: Eighty seven patients of either gender with age up to 12 years, with diagnosis of appendicular lump were selected for this study. Variables that were analyzed include age, gender, presence of various symptoms, operative finding and difficulties, duration of surgery and duration of hospital stay. Results: Mean age of the patients was 8.22±2.35 years. Out of 87 patients, 66 (75.9%) were male and 21(24.10%) were female with male to female ratio of 3.14:1. Duration of surgery ranged from 47 to 142 minutes, with mean and standard deviation of 73.15±21.55 minutes. Intra-operatively, perforated appendix was the most common finding as was seen in 39 (44.83%) patients, followed by pus collection, which was found in 31 (35.62%) patients, appendicular abscess was seen in 26 (29.88%) patients whereas gangrenous appendix was found in 17 (19.54%) patients. Difficulty in localizing appendix was faced in 13 (14.94%) patients and difficulty in removal of adhesions was faced in 8 (9.2%) patients. Post-operative complications were seen in 22 (22.99%) patients. The duration of hospital stay ranged from 4 to 11 days with mean and standard deviation of 5.57±1.04 days. Conclusion: It is concluded in our study that early surgery in children with of appendicular lump can safely be carried out with good outcome and shorter hospital stay.