چكيده لاتين :
Background: Fasting during the holy month of Ramadan
(fasting) for Muslims is a religiou s duty. The impact of fasting
on some diseases has been reported in medical literature. This
study evaluated the effects of fasting on appendicitis. In this
population-ba sed descriptive study, we investigated whether
the incidence of acute appendiciti s differs during fasting compared
to other non fasting lunar months.
Patients and Methods: A retrospective study was carried out
on patients with pathologically documented diagnosis of acute
appendicitis attending our surgery department during three
consecutive Hijri years, from November 5, 2000 to December
4, 2002. The annual incidence of acute appendicitis was compared
between three months, before, during and after Ramadan.
Results: The total number of documented appendicitis were 414,
423 and 407 for three consecutive years of 2000 to 2002 (1421 to
1423, Islamic lunar years) respectively. The overall incidence of
acute appendicitis in people aged from 15 to 70 years was
171.53/100,000 per year. Compared with the mean monthly occurrence
of appendicitis, a statistically significant reduction in the
incidence of appendicitis was found during Ramadan, whereas,
the frequency of acute appendicitis increased significantly in the
month following Ramadan (p<0.001) .
Conclusion: The incidences rate of acute appendicitis was
significantly lower in the holy month of Ramadan, which was
most likely due to the fasting . Bowel resting could reduce the
risk of appendi citis but more investigation is recommended .
