Acute appendicitis in early childhood can be elective surgery in the capital

Recently, a 12-year-old child with early acute appendicitis underwent elective appendicitis surgery at the Day Surgery Center of the Capital Institute of Pediatrics , relieves the risk of appendicitis recurrence in the future.

In April 2022, Xiao An (pseudonym) came to the emergency surgery department of the Beijing Children’s Hospital because of right lower quadrant pain. After ultrasound and laboratory tests, he was diagnosed with early acute appendicitis. When parents learned that hospitalization was required, they were a little hesitant. It turned out that Xiao An is about to face the entrance exam for the junior high school. The sudden operation will inevitably have an impact on his study and life, and even affect his further studies.

Understanding the concerns of the parents, Dong Ning, the attending physician, said: “Although Xiao An’s appendicitis is acute, he seeks medical attention in time and has not yet purulent perforation. This type of appendicitis can be treated with anti-inflammatory first. For elective surgery after conservative treatment improves, you can make an appointment for winter and summer vacations or small long vacations to minimize the impact on study and life. At the same time, elective surgery can be done in a day surgery center without being hospitalized. I can go home and recuperate.”

The parents happily accepted the doctor’s advice, and after 1 week of infusion and anti-inflammatory treatment, Xiao An’s abdominal pain disappeared. At the end of June, Xiao An made an appointment for day surgery immediately after completing the exam. In the day surgery center, the appendix was successfully removed by laparoscopic minimally invasive technique, which relieved the risk of appendicitis recurrence in the future.

At the beginning of last year, the hospital opened day surgery for chronic appendicitis. Children do not need to be hospitalized. After completing the surgery in the day surgery center, they can go home for recuperation within 4 hours and take oral medicines to prevent infection. This measure greatly facilitates the children and their parents, shortens the hospitalization waiting time and treatment time of the children, and enables more children to receive effective treatment, especially when the beds are tight during the winter and summer vacations. In addition, it can also help reduce the chance of cross-infection in children.

Appendicitis day surgery is convenient, but requires a comprehensive assessment of the child’s condition by the doctor, and is not suitable for all children with appendicitis. Dr. Dong Ning said that during the conservative treatment of acute appendicitis, if the child has persistent abdominal pain, fever and other manifestations, he should go to the hospital for review as soon as possible, terminate the conservative treatment if necessary, and perform surgery in time. For acute appendicitis with delayed diagnosis and purulent perforation at the time of consultation, emergency surgery must be performed.