ACUTE APPENDICITIS IN THE ELDERLY: A 5-YEAR RETROSPECTIVE STUDY
- 1 July 1987
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Age and Ageing
- Vol. 16 (4), 256-260
- https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/16.4.256
Abstract
Acute appendicitis in elderly patients has not been studied extensively in the United Kingdom. Studies were performed prior to the regular use of broad spectrum antibiotics and tended to include younger patients. We studied retrospectively all elderly patients (n=30, mean age=72 years) who presented in the years 1980–85 and a younger group (n=30, mean age=23 years) who had a confirmed pathological diagnosis of appendicitis. We found asignificant reduction in accurate pre-operative diagnoses, a longer duration of hospital stay and increased complication and mortality rates in the elderly group. Our study suggests that diagnostic accuracy, mortality and morbidity have not improved in comparision to earlier overseas studies.Keywords
This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- Appendicitis in Mature PatientsAnnals of Surgery, 1985