Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33748404›Full record

ArticleSurgery research and practice2021

Seasonal Variation in Cases of Acute Appendicitis.

Rawan A Rahman AlHarmi, Sayed Ali Almahari, Jasim AlAradi, Asma Alqaseer, Noof Sami AlJirdabi, Fatema Ali Ahmed

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Article in Surgery research and practice, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

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5citing papers in PubMed
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3 · Its place in the literature

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5 citing papers in PubMed.

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Rawan A Rahman AlHarmiDepartment of Surgery, Salmaniya Medical Complex, Manama, Bahrain.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7097-261X
Sayed Ali AlmahariDepartment of Pathology, Salmaniya Medical Complex, Manama, Bahrain.
Jasim AlAradiDepartment of Surgery, Salmaniya Medical Complex, Manama, Bahrain.
Asma AlqaseerDepartment of Surgery, Salmaniya Medical Complex, Manama, Bahrain.
Noof Sami AlJirdabiMedical Intern, Salmaniya Medical Complex, Manama, Bahrain.
Fatema Ali AhmedMedical Intern, Salmaniya Medical Complex, Manama, Bahrain.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesTo investigate whether the incidence of acute appendicitis increases in summer and whether complicated cases present more in summer.

methodsA single-center cross-sectional, retrospective study on 697 cases of appendicitis admitted in the year 2018. Inclusion criteria: patients admitted with acute appendicitis who underwent appendectomy of all ages. Exclusion criteria: conservative management. Analysis was performed using Microsoft Excel. Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated to assess the correlation between monthly incidence of appendicitis and mean temperature in that month.

resultsFifty-one patients who were managed conservatively were excluded. Accordingly, 646 patients were included. Ages ranged from three to 77 years. Males comprised the majority (500, 77.4%). Gangrenous, perforated, and purulent appendices were regarded as complicated appendicitis. The highest number of cases were admitted in summer (234), comprising 36.2% of cases. Complicated cases were equal to 65, of which 23 (35.4%) were admitted in summer and 30 (46.2%) in winter. The highest number of cases was during the month of July (68), while the lowest (40) was during February. This corresponded to the highest recorded mean temperature (36.2°C) and second lowest (19.8°C), respectively. Moderate positive correlation (Pearson's R 0.5183) between the monthly incidence of appendicitis and the mean temperature is noted.

conclusionMore cases of appendicitis were noted during summer. Monthly incidence correlated positively with the temperature. Larger numbers over several years are needed to draw better conclusions and reach the possible causes behind such variation.

Identifiers

PMID33748404
PMCPMC7943315

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