ArticleAnnals of surgery open : perspectives of surgical history, education, and clinical approaches2021
Where Did All the Appendicitis Go? Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Volume, Management, and Outcomes of Acute Appendicitis in a Nationwide, Multicenter Analysis.
Article in Annals of surgery open : perspectives of surgical history, education, and clinical approaches, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Spontaneous Resolution of Uncomplicated Appendicitis may Explain Increase in Proportion of Complicated Appendicitis During Covid-19 Pandemic: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.World journal of surgery · 2023Pooled it
- Acute appendicitis before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic: a population-based cohort study.Frontiers in surgery · 2026Article
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- Article
- Navigating appendicitis care during the Covid-19 pandemic: a retrospective cohort study in China.BMC surgery · 2024Article
- The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on acute appendicitis patients in a tertiary care center in Lebanon.BMC surgery · 2024Observational
- Evolutionary analysis of patient's morbidity and mortality in emergency surgical care during the pandemic: Retrospective comparison between first and second waves of COVID-19.Cirugia espanola · 2023Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Severity and Early Postoperative Outcomes of Acute Appendicitis.Cureus · 2023Article
- Cerebrovascular Disease in COVID-19.Viruses · 2023Review
- Management of pediatric appendicitis during the COVID-19 pandemic: A nationwide multicenter cohort study.Journal of pediatric surgery · 2023Article
- Operative Management of Acute Appendicitis Was Safe During the COVID-19 Pandemic Shutdown.The Journal of surgical research · 2023Article
- A critical appraisal on the treatment of acute appendicitis in pediatric population during the COVID-19 pandemic.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2023Article
- [Evolutionary analysis of patient´s morbidity and mortality in emergency surgical care during the pandemic: retrospective comparison between the first and second waves of COVID-19.]Cirugia espanola · 2022Article
- Incidence of Complicated Appendicitis during the COVID-19 Pandemic versus the Pre-Pandemic Period: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of 2782 Pediatric Appendectomies.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- A concise pathophysiological model of acute appendicitis against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2022Review
- A population-based analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on common abdominal and gynecological emergency department visits.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objective: The study objective was to evaluate effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on rates of emergency department (ED) acute appendicitis presentation, management strategies, and patient outcomes. Summary Background Data: Acute appendicitis is the most commonly performed emergency surgery in the United States and is unlikely to improve without medical or surgical intervention. Dramatic reductions in ED visits prompted concern that individuals with serious conditions, such as acute appendicitis, were deferring treatment for fear of contracting COVID-19. Methods: Patients from 146 hospitals with diagnosed appendicitis and arrival between March 2016 and May 2020 were selected. Electronic medical records data were retrospectively reviewed to retrieve patient data. Daily admissions were averaged from March 2016 through May 2019 and compared with March 2020. April-specific admissions were compared across the 5-year pre-COVID-19 period to April 2020 to identify differences in volume, demographics, disease severity, and outcomes. Results: Appendicitis patient admissions in 2020 decreased throughout March into April, with April experiencing the fewest admissions. April 2020 experienced a substantial decrease in patients who presented with appendicitis, dropping 25.4%, from an average of 2030 patients (2016-2019) to 1516 in 2020. An even greater decrease of 33.8% was observed in pediatric patients (age <18). Overall, 77% of the 146 hospitals experienced a reduction in appendicitis admissions. There were no differences between years in percent of patients treated nonoperatively ( Conclusions: Acute appendicitis presentations decreased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, while overall management and patient outcomes did not differ from previous years. Further research is needed focusing on putative explanations for decreased hospital presentations unrelated to COVID-19 infection and possible implications for surgical management of uncomplicated acute appendicitis.
Identifiers
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Registered trials
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.