Acute Appendicitis in Pre-School Children

Abstract

Background: Appendicitis is an emergent condition in young children which can cause serious illness. Aim: To identify features related with appendicitis in pre-school children. Study design: Retrospective study Place and duration of study: Department of Paediatric Surgery, Bolan Medical College Hospital Quetta from 1st April 2020 to 31st March 2021. Methodology: Fifty two children between 5-15 years were admitted for appendectomy. All demographic and clinical information including earlier diagnosis, symptoms, biochemical, histopathological as well as radiological imaging were properly documented. The operational technique was open appendecectomy. Results: There were 61.53% boys and 38.46% girls with mean age 8±0.8 years. Abdominal pain was presented in 90.3% while nausea in 82.7% with nausea/vomiting children. There were 51.9% children having perforated appendix with majority between 8-10 years of age. Misdiagnosis was common in 44.2% patients. Conclusion: Appendicitis in pre-school children is difficult and challenging to diagnose which requires careful diagnosis. Key words: Appendectomy, Pre-schoolers, Perforated, Misdiagnosis