Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35575916›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of colorectal disease2022

Impact of COVID-19 on the incidence of CT-diagnosed appendicitis and its complications in the UK and Sweden.

Michael R Torkzad, Arnar Thorisson, Abbas Chabok, Maziar Nikberg, Roland E Andersson, Fausto Labruto

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of colorectal disease, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.5field-weighted citation impact, top 36% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 2 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Michael R TorkzadEuropean Telemedicine Clinic SL, Noosa and Sydney, Australia. michael.torkzad@gmail.com.
Arnar ThorissonDepartment of Radiology and Centre for Clinical Research of Uppsala University, Västmanland's Hospital Västerås, Västerås, Sweden.
Abbas ChabokDepartment of Surgery and Centre for Clinical Research of Uppsala University, Västmanland's Hospital Västerås, Västerås, Sweden.
Maziar NikbergDepartment of Surgery and Centre for Clinical Research of Uppsala University, Västmanland's Hospital Västerås, Västerås, Sweden.
Roland E AnderssonDepartment of Surgery, County Hospital Ryhov, Jönköping, Sweden.
Fausto LabrutoEuropean Telemedicine Clinic SL, Noosa and Sydney, Australia.
Mälardalen University · SELinköping University · SE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimTo compare the number of appendicitis cases and its complications, during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden and the UK and the corresponding time period in 2019.

methodReports of emergency abdominopelvic CT performed at 56 Swedish hospitals and 38 British hospitals between April and July 2020 and a corresponding control cohort from 2019 were reviewed. Two radiologists and two surgeons blinded to the date of cohorts analyzed all reports for diagnosis of appendicitis, perforation, and abscess. A random selection of cases was chosen for the measurement of inter-rater agreement.

resultBoth in Sweden (6111) and the UK (5591) fewer, abdominopelvic CT scans were done in 2020 compared to 2019 (6433 and 7223, respectively); p < 0.001. In the UK, the number of appendicitis was 36% lower in April-June 2020 compared to 2019 but not in Sweden. Among the appendicitis cases, there was a higher number of perforations and abscesses in 2020, in Sweden. In the UK, the number of perforations and abscesses were initially lower (April-June 2020) but increased in July 2020. There was a substantial inter-rater agreement for the diagnosis of perforations and abscess formations (K = 0.64 and 0.77).

conclusionIn Sweden, the number of appendicitis was not different between 2019 and 2020; however, there was an increase of complications. In the UK, there was a significant decrease of cases in 2020. The prevalence of complications was lower initially but increased in July. These findings suggest variability in delay in diagnosis of appendicitis depending on the country and time frame studied.

Indexed as

AppendicitisCOVID-19AbscessAppendectomyHumansIncidencePandemicsRetrospective StudiesSwedenTomography, X-Ray ComputedUnited KingdomAbscessAppendicitisComplicationsCOVID-19CTDelay in diagnosisPerforation

Identifiers

PMID35575916
PMCPMC9108134
OpenAlexW4280583939

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.