Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37568934›Full record

ReviewDiagnostics (Basel, Switzerland)2023

Reasons for Delayed Diagnosis of Pediatric Acute Appendicitis during the COVID-19 Era: A Narrative Review.

George Pantalos, Smaragda Papachristidou, Eleftheria Mavrigiannaki, Nikolaos Zavras, George Vaos

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Observational
  3. 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

5 authors.

George PantalosPediatric Intensive Care Unit, Penteli General Children's Hospital, 15236 Athens, Greece.ORCID 0000-0002-3553-8893
Smaragda PapachristidouSecond Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, P. & A. Kyriakou Children's Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece.
Eleftheria MavrigiannakiDepartment of Pediatric Surgery, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, "Attikon" General University Hospital, 12462 Athens, Greece.
Nikolaos ZavrasDepartment of Pediatric Surgery, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, "Attikon" General University Hospital, 12462 Athens, Greece.ORCID 0000-0003-2546-4533
George VaosDepartment of Pediatric Surgery, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, "Attikon" General University Hospital, 12462 Athens, Greece.ORCID 0000-0002-2728-0407

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Global pandemics cause health system disruptions. The inadvertent disruption in surgical emergency care during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been the topic of several published studies. Our aim was to summarize the reasons that led to the delayed diagnosis of pediatric appendicitis during the COVID-19 era. This systematic literature search evaluated studies containing pediatric appendicitis patient data regarding outcomes, times to hospital admission or times from symptom onset to emergency department visit. Studies elucidating reasons for delays in the management of pediatric appendicitis were also reviewed. Ultimately, 42 studies were included. Several reasons for delayed diagnosis are analyzed such as changes to public health measures, fear of exposure to COVID-19, increased use of telemedicine, COVID-19 infection with concurrent acute appendicitis, recurrence of appendicitis after non-operative management and increased time to intraoperative diagnosis. Time to hospital admission in conjunction with patient outcomes was extracted and analyzed as an indicative measure of delayed management. Delayed diagnosis of acute appendicitis has been documented in many studies with various effects on outcomes. Suspicion of pediatric acute appendicitis must always lead to prompt medical examination, regardless of pandemic status. Telemedicine can be valuable if properly applied. Data from this era can guide future health system policies.

Indexed as

appendicitisCOVID-19delaydiagnosispediatric surgery

Identifiers

PMID37568934
PMCPMC10417690

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Registered trials

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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.