Table 1.
Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics for 6207 complete appendectomy cases recorded during the study period and for 4256 cases included in analysis
| Total surveillance cohort | Cases included in analysis | |
|---|---|---|
| Patient characteristics | ||
| Patients | 6207 | 4256 |
| Surgical site infections, n (%) | 119 (1.9) | 87 (2.0) |
| Sex, n (%) | ||
| Male | 3430 (55.3) | 2336 (54.9) |
| Female | 2777 (44.7) | 1920 (45.1) |
| Age in years, median (IQR) | 12 [10, 14] | 12 [10, 14] |
| American Society of Anesthesiologists classification, n (%) | ||
| Classes 1/2 | 6143 (99.0) | 4220 (99.2) |
| Class 3/4/5 | 64 (1.0) | 36 (0.8) |
| Hospital characteristics | ||
| Hospital size, n (%) | ||
| ≤ 200 beds | 2954 (47.6) | 1943 (45.7) |
| 200–499 beds | 1563 (25.2) | 1091 (25.6) |
| ≥ 500 beds | 1690 (27.2) | 1222 (28.7) |
| Procedure characteristics | ||
| Type of surgical approach n (%) | ||
| Open | 944 (9.4) | 371 (8.7) |
| Laparoscopic | 5623 (90.6) | 3885 (91.3) |
| Duration of surgery in minutes, median (IQR) | 53 [40, 68] | 53 [40, 69] |
| Duration of surgery > 75th centile, n (%) | 2151 (34.8) | 1509 (35.5) |
| Perioperative antibiotic regimen, n (%) | ||
| Cefuroxime plus metronidazole | 2348 (37.8) | 2348 (55.2) |
| Amoxicillin/clavulanic acid | 1491 (24.0) | 1491 (35.0) |
| Other regimen | 1951 (31.4) | 0 (0.0) |
| No antibiotics | 417 (6.7) | 417 (9.8) |
| Timing of administration of first prophylaxis prior to incision in minutes, median (IQR) | − 20 [− 38, − 10] | − 21 [− 40, − 11] |