UMEM Educational Pearls

Category: Gastrointestional

Title: Can appendectomy wait until the morning?

Keywords: appendicitis, delayed operating room, appendectomy (PubMed Search)

Posted: 9/17/2023 by Robert Flint, MD (Updated: 10/6/2024)
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This Scandinavian study from the Lancet says yes. They randomized 1800 patients over age 18 to appendectomy either within 8 hours or 24 hours and found no difference in perforation rate or other complications. 

 

References

Karoliina Jalava, Ville Sallinen, Hanna Lampela, Hanna Malmi, Ingeborg Steinholt, Knut Magne Augestad, Ari Leppäniemi, Panu Mentula,

Role of preoperative in-hospital delay on appendiceal perforation while awaiting appendicectomy (PERFECT): a Nordic, pragmatic, open-label, multicentre, non-inferiority, randomised controlled trial,

The Lancet, 2023