APPENDECTOMY

Course overview

SINCE APPENDICITIS WAS FIRST DESCRIBED OVER A CENTURY AGO, APPENDECTOMY HAS BEEN THE GOLD STANDARD OF TREATMENT AND IS AMONG THE MOST COMMONLY PERFORMED SURGERIES IN THE UNITED STATES. APPENDECTOMY IS A RELATIVELY SAFE PROCEDURE, WITH A MORTALITY RATE OF 0.09 TO 0.24 PERCENT, AND IS A DEFINITIVE TREATMENT OF APPENDICITIS. OPEN AND LAPAROSCOPIC SURGERY ARE THE TWO APPROACHES UTILIZED FOR APPENDECTOMIES. IN RECENT YEARS, RATES OF LAPAROSCOPIC SURGERY HAVE SURPASSED THAT OF OPEN SURGERY IN BOTH NONPERFORATED AND PERFORATED APPENDICITIS. LAPAROSCOPIC APPENDECTOMY IS THE PREFERRED TREATMENT FOR POPULATIONS WITH UNIQUE CONSIDERATIONS, INCLUDING WOMEN OF CHILDBEARING AGE, ELDERLY PATIENTS, PEDIATRIC PATIENTS, PREGNANT PATIENTS, AND OBESE PATIENTS. COMPARED WITH OPEN APPENDECTOMY, LAPAROSCOPIC APPENDECTOMY IS ASSOCIATED WITH LOWER WOUND INFECTION RATES, LENGTH OF HOSPITAL STAY, AND MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY RATES. THIS ACTIVITY REVIEWS APPENDECTOMIES AND HIGHLIGHTS THE ROLE OF THE INTERPROFESSIONAL TEAM IN EVALUATING AND TREATING PATIENTS WHO UNDERGO APPENDECTOMY.