Appendicectomy; laparoscopic VS open

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study was to compare length of hospital stay, pain scores and the rate of wound infections between laparoscopic and open appendectomy. Randomized Controlled trial. This study was conducted in surgical unit I Holy Family hospital, Rawalpindi from 1st June 2009 to 31st May 2010. The patients were divided into open and laparoscopy groups and their age, sex, time of discharge, pain scores and wound infection rates were compared and analyzed. Total of 160 patients were included in the study, 80 in each group. There were 58% male and 42% female patients. Mean age was 22.78 years [ +/- 6.2]. Post operative pain scores were significantly less in the laparoscopic group [p<0.05]. The length of hospital stay in open group was 35.10 hrs [ +/- 5.4] hours and in the laparoscopic group was 38.70[4.8] hrs with a p value of 0.592. Wound infection was 0.037% in open and 0.025% in the laparoscopic group. Laparoscopic appendectomy is superior in terms of less morbidity and shorter post operative hospital stay in the setting of an overworked tertiary care surgical floor of a Pakistani hospital