Elderly versus young patients with appendicitis 3 years experience

Available online 14 December 2011

Peer review under responsibility of Alexandria University Faculty of Medicine.

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographic data of both groups.

	Group I (elderly, n = 23)	Group II (young, n = 40)	P value
Mean age ± SD (years)	74.87 ± 9.36	23.22 ± 4.15	<0.001
Range (years)	60–100	17–31
Sex
Males (%)	11(47.8)	29(72.5)	<0.001
Females (%)	12(52.2)	11(27.5)

Table 2 Duration of symptoms, preoperative hospital stay and total hospital stay in both groups.

	Group I (elderly, n = 23)	Group II (young, n = 40)	P value
Duration of symptoms mean ± SD (days)	3.7 ± 1.02	1.1 ± 0.30	<0.001
Range (days)	2–6	1–2
Preoperative hospital stay mean ± SD (hours)	24 ± 11.3	7.45 ± 4.2	<0.001
Range	8–48	4–24
Total hospital stay mean ± SD (days)	7.2 ± 4.6	2.2 ± 0.46	<0.001
Range (days)	4–22	2–4
Main clinical finding	Generalized abdominal tenderness 22/23(95.7%)	Localized right iliac fossa tenderness 38/40(95%)	<0.001

Table 3 Operative time, incision type and postoperative complications in both groups.

Item	Group I (elderly, n = 23)	Group II (young, n = 40)	P value
Mean operative time	86 ± 26	56 ± 18	0.044
Range	50–160	35–110
Incision type
Right lower paramedian	11(47.8)	0	0.0001
McBurnny	12(52.2)	40(100)	0.0001
Perforated appendix (%)	16(69.5)	8(20)	0.0003
Wound sepsis (%)	4(17.3)	2(5)	0.24
Wound dehiscence (%)	2(8.7)	0(0)	0.25
Burst abdomen (%)	2(8.7)	0(0)	0.25