Does the timing of appendectomy affect outcomes and postoperative complications?
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Read the article on link.springer.com ↗Article · Jan 2023 · 1 min read
In brief
In brief
This retrospective study of 1,643 pediatric appendectomy cases found that surgical timing (morning, afternoon, or night) did not affect postoperative complications, hospital stay, or readmission rates. Night operations had higher rates of open procedures and shorter operative times, but outcomes remained equivalent across all time slots.
Written by the GCMD Library team from the article.
Abstract
Purpose
There is controversy about the necessity of nighttime appendectomy. The aim of this study was to determine whether timing of appendectomy performance plays a role on postoperative complications.
Methods
A retrospective single-center comparative study was performed in children who underwent surgery for acute appendicitis between 2017 and 2021. Patients were divided into groups based on the time slot in which surgery was performed: morning (8:00 h–15:00 h), afternoon (15:00 h–22:00 h) and night (22:00 h–08:00 h). Demographics, intraoperative data, length of hospital stay, and postoperative complications were analyzed and compared.
Results
A total of 1643 patients were included: 337 were operated in the morning, 751 in the afternoon and 555 at night. We found no demographic differences. When comparing the intraoperative data, no differences were observed in the percentage of complicated appendicitis. Night group patients presented a higher percentage of open appendectomies (64.5%) when compared to afternoon (49.6%) and morning (46.2%) groups (p < 0.001). Surgery time was also significantly shorter in the night group (45.2 min ± 18.9 min) (p < 0.001). There were no differences in length of hospital stay, postoperative complications rate or readmission rate.
Conclusion
These results show that in our institution time slot in which the appendectomy is performed has no consequences in postoperative outcomes and complications.