Table 1.
Participant characteristics at time of diagnosis and initial management of acute appendicitis
| Event/total (%)* | Total (n = 500) |
Operative management (n = 229) | Initial conservative management (n = 271) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antibiotics and IR drain (n = 271) | P value | Antibiotics alone (n = 263) | P value | |||
| Age (years) median, range | 35 [26–49.75] | 37 [28.5–52] | 34 [25–48] | 0.08 | 34 [25–47] | 0.04 |
| Female | 233/500 (47) | 99/229 (43) | 134/271 (49) | 0.18 | 132/263 (50) | 0.13 |
| Body Mass Index kg/m2 | ||||||
| < 20 | 22/479 (5) | 11/222 (6) | 11/257 (3) | 0.07 | 11/249 (4) | 0.09 |
| 20–25 | 186/479 (39) | 82/222 (37) | 104/257 (41) | 100/249 (40) | ||
| 25–30 | 165/479 (34) | 68/222 (31) | 97/257 (38) | 94/249 (38) | ||
| 30–35 | 74/479 (15) | 45/222 (20) | 29/257 (11) | 29/249 (12) | ||
| 35 + | 32/479 (7) | 16/222 (8) | 16/257 (6) | 15/249 (6) | ||
| Rockwood score | ||||||
| Not frail (1–3) | 478/500 (96) | 220/229 (96) | 258/271 (95) | 0.87 | 250/263 (95) | 0.84 |
| Pre-frail (4) | 14/500 (3) | 6/229 (3) | 8/271 (3) | 8/263 (3) | ||
| Frail (5–9) | 8/500 (2) | 3/229 (1) | 5/271 (2) | 5/263 (2) | ||
| Comorbidities | ||||||
| None reported | 450/499 (90) | 207/229 (90) | 243/270 (90) | 1 | 236/262 (90) | 1 |
| Diabetes | 18/499 (3) | 9/229 (4) | 9/270 (3) | 0.81 | 9/262 (3) | 0.81 |
| COPD | 9/498 (2) | 4/228 (2) | 5/270 (2) | 1 | 5/262 (2) | 1 |
| Myocardial infarction | 15/498 (3) | 8/313 (3) | 7/270 (3) | 0.61 | 7/262 (3) | 0.61 |
| Immunosuppressed | 11/499 (2) | 3/229 (1) | 8/270 (3) | 0.24 | 7/262 (3) | 0.35 |
| Active cancer | 4/499 (0.7) | 3/313 (1) | 1/270 (0) | 0.3 | 1/262 (0.4) | 0.34 |
| Dementia | 4/499 (0.7) | 2/229 (0.6) | 2/270 (0.8) | 0.87 | 2/262 (0.8) | 1 |
| Imaging | ||||||
| No Imaging | 77/500 (15) | 35/229 (15) | 42/271 (16) | 0.95 | 42/263 (16) | 0.9 |
| CT scan | 353/500 (71) | 174/229 (76) | 179/271 (66) | 0.018 | 171/263 (65) | 0.01 |
| USS | 86/500 (17) | 26/229 (11) | 60/271 (22) | 0.002 | 60/263 (23) | 0.001 |
| CT scan and USS | 16/500 (3) | 6/229 (2) | 10/271 (3) | 0.61 | 10/263 (4) | 0.61 |
| Admission COVID swab | ||||||
| Positive | 6/159 (4) | 3/91 (3) | 3/68 (4) | 1 | 3/64 (5) | 0.69 |
| Negative | 153/159 (96) | 88/91 (97) | 65/68(96) | 61/64 (90) | ||
| Not performed | 341/500 (68) | 138/229 (60) | 203/271(75) | < 0.001 | 199/263 (76) | < 0.001 |
|
Length of stay (days) median, range |
3 [1–4] | 3 [2–4] | 2 [1–4] | < 0.001 | 2 [1–4] | < 0.001 |
| Managed without admission | 57/483 (12) | 9/223 (4) | 48/260 (18) | < 0.001 | ||
Analysis is separated into operative group versus antibiotics and interventional radiological placed drain (IR drain) and operative group versus antibiotics alone. Continuous data is presented as median [IQR]; p values calculated by Mann–Whitney−U. Categorical data are presented as number/denominator (percentage); p values calculated by χ2 or Fisher’s exact test as appropriate
The bold typeset in the table highlights statistical significance
COPD Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; CT Computed tomography, USS Ultrasound scan, IR Interventional radiology placement of
*Unless otherwise indicated