Acute Appendicitis in North of Jordan- A 10 year Survey

Objective: The study aimed to study the demographic features, rates of negative appendectomies and rates of perforation in all patients submitted to appendectomy in a 10 -year period.Methods: A retrospective review of 3894 patients submitted to appendectomy in the period 1997-2006, in three teaching hospitals in north of Jordan was conducted. The analysis included the variables: age, sex, presence of inflammations, perforation or other pathological findings.Results: The negative appendectomy rate was 23.2%. It was more in females (30.4%) compared to males (16.3%). The perforation rate was 14.5%, which was found to be higher in males (16.5%) compared to that in females (12.1%), and was high in elderly patients (38.2%) and children below 11 years (21.7%).Conclusion: Our negative appendectomies and perforations are considered high (although it compares with many studies in literature). This reinforces the need to rely more in ultrasonography, computerized tomography and laparoscopy.