Gulzar Dhanoya, Shameen Jaunoo
University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, Brighton, United Kingdom
Abstract
Acute appendicitis is one of the most common presentations in acute surgery (50,000 per annum in the UK alone). Laparoscopic appendicectomy (LA) is today’s gold standard management of simple acute appendicitis (ie. Non gangrenous/ non-perforated appendix). This is due to its less invasive nature compared with open surgery, making patient recovery faster, and hospital admission times shorter. Most LA cases show a post-op length of stay (LOS) time of 1-2 days according to recent data, however this is most likely attributed to delayed onset of disease and complicated disease, including gangrenous and/or perforated appendix. The purpose of this study was to assess the safety of same-day discharge after laparoscopic appendectomy for acute appendicitis at a tertiary care centre as well as to to determine the key factors that can facilitate a less than 24h discharge. This was done by comparing the post-op complications and 30-day readmission rates between patients who underwent day-case procedures, and those who were admitted to hospital >24hrs post surgery. Results showed no significant difference in complications or readmission rates between the two groups of patients. This study found that for patients presenting with simple appendicitis, day-case LA should be used where possible.