The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Incidence, Severity, and Management of Acute Appendicitis: A Single Center Experience in Thailand

Table 2

Investigation, operative, and histopathology data of adult patients with acute appendicitis.

	Pre-COVID-19	During COVID-19	value
Radiological investigation
CT scan, (%)	188 (32.75)	197 (45.39)	<0.001
CT finding, (%)
Fecalith	62 (32.98)	50 (25.38)	0.101
Fat standing	176 (93.2)	193 (97.97)	0.032
Size (more than 6 mm)	172 (91.49)	192 (97.46)	0.010
Perforation	46 (24.47)	45 (22.84)	0.707
Collection	49 (26.06)	33 (16.75)	0.026
Treatment, (%)
Appendectomy (vs nonoperative management)	541 (94.25)	402 (92.63)	0.299
Type of appendectomy			0.028
Open	537 (99.26)	392 (97.51)
Laparoscopic	4 (0.74)	10 (2.49)
Antibiotic	214 (37.28)	182 (41.94)	0.134
Percutaneous drainage	23 (4.01)	21 (4.84))	0.522
Time to surgery, (hours)			<0.001,
Mean ± SD (years)	10.9 ± 6.61	13.75 ± 8.34
Median (iqr)	9.62 (7.4, 13)	11.93 (8.5, 17)
Operative time, (minutes)			0.269
Mean ± SD (years)	77.3 ± 44.52	78.49 ± 37.68
Median (iqr)	68 (50, 95)	71 (55, 93)
Type of appendicitis, (%)
Normal	2 (0.35)	1 (0.23)	0.733
Simple appendicitis	362 (63.07)	274 (63.13)	0.982
Gangrenous appendicitis	83 (14.46)	38 (8.76)	0.006
Ruptured appendicitis	117 (20.38)	89 (20.51)	0.962
Appendiceal abscess	28 (4.88)	27 (6.22)	0.353
Appendiceal phlegmon	19 (3.31)	13 (3.00)	0.778
Histopathology, (%)
Appendicitis	535 (98.89)	400 (99.50)	0.311
Malignancy	3 (0.55)	0 (0)	0.135
Normal	2 (0.37)	1 (0.25)	0.744
No appendix tissue	1 (0.18)	1 (0.25)	0.833

CT, computerized tomography; iqr, interquartile range; SD, standard deviation, Statistically significant value <0.05. nonparametric data.