Inguinal approach for pediatric appendectomy: A case series

ABSTRACT

@#Appendicitis is the most frequent indication for emergent surgery in children. Appendectomies are increasingly done laparoscopically, minimizing tissue trauma and enabling earlier recovery, but the added costs remain prohibitive in resource constrained settings. An open approach, but from a less conspicuous inguinal incision, provides similar advantages without additional resource requirements. The operative technique is described and the profile of patients, including their clinical course and operative findings, are summarized. The differences in short-term outcomes for non-perforated and perforated cases are compared. The trans-inguinal approach was utilized in 26 patients. It provided adequate surgical access even for ruptured cases and had suitable wound outcomes. Ruptured cases had significantly longer operative time, but were not associated with differences in the patients' length of stay.