Negative appendicectomy rate in adult patients with acute appendicitis at University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City

Abstract

Acute appendicitis is the most common surgical abdominal emergency worldwide. The initial diagnosis is mainly clinical and the treatment of choice is appendicectomy. A Negative appendicectomy is the absence of inflammation or pathology in the appendix. To determine the negative appendicectomy rate in adult patients with acute appendicitis. This was a prospective descriptive study carried out over a year period from September 2009 to August 2010 at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City. All consenting and consecutive adult patients of 18 years and above with diagnosis of acute appendicitis were recruited. Clinical features, treatment and outcome were entered into a pro forma and analyzed using SPSS 16 version. Acute appendicitis was pre-operatively diagnosed in 86 patients but confirmed in 71 patients on histology. The Male to Female ratio was 1:2 with a mean age of 28.36 ± 10.40 years. The most common age group was in 3rd decade (57.0%). All the patients had appendicectomy. Fifteen patients had a negative histology with overall negative appendicectomy rate of 17%. Third decade is the most common age for acute appendicitis at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City with male to female ratio of 1:2. Females accounted for a higher number of acute appendicitis, though negative appendicectomy rate was higher in them. The negative appendicectomy rate in this study is within acceptable range.

Keywords: Acute appendicitis, negative appendicectomy rate, outcome