International Surgery Journal | April 2019 | Vol 6 | Issue 4 Page 1144 International Surgery Journal Kumar PS et al. Int Surg J. 2019 Apr;6(4):1144-1147 http://www.ijsurgery.com pISSN 2349-3305 | eISSN 2349-2902 Original Research Article A retrospective study on laparoscopic appendectomy versus open appendectomy P. Senthil Kumar 1 , S. Edwin Kin’s Raj 2 *, Saranya Nagalingam 3 INTRODUCTION Acute appendicitis is a common cause of acute abdominal pain with a life-time incidence between 7–9%. 1 Appendicitis is defined as inflammation of the vermiform appendix, the most common surgical emergency in children and young adults with abdominal pain. There are two methods of treatment modality based on history and clinical examination it differs. A non-operative strategy with antibiotics is favourable in some cases. Diagnosis is based on history, clinical examination and laboratory tests, although 30–45% of patients exhibit atypical signs and symptoms on presentation. Where the diagnosis remains ambiguous, ultrasound and CT scans are the ABSTRACT Background: Appendectomy is the most common surgical procedure performed in emergency surgery. Open appendectomy is the “gold standard” for the treatment of acute appendicitis. Laparoscopic appendectomy though widely practiced has not gained universal approval. Our aim is to compare the safety and benefits of laparoscopic versus open appendectomy in a retrospective study. Methods: The study was done as a retrospective study among 387 patients diagnosed with appendicitis for a period of 18 months in the Dept of General Surgery. All patients included were 16 years and above and followed up for 3 weeks. In this study, 130 patients diagnosed as acute appendicitis - underwent open appendectomy and 257 patients diagnosed as sub-acute cases of appendicitis - underwent laparoscopic appendectomy. These two groups (open & laparoscopic) were compared for operative time, length of hospital stay, postoperative pain, complication rate, early return to normal activity. Results: Laparoscopic appendectomy was associated with a shorter hospital stay (around 4.5 days), with a less need for analgesia and with an early return to daily activities (around 11.5 days). Operative time was significantly shorter in the open group (35 mins), when compared with laparoscopic group (around 59 mins). Total number of complications was less in the Laparoscopic group with a significantly lower incidence of post-op pain and complications. Conclusions: The laparoscopic approach is a safe and efficient operative procedure and it provides clinically beneficial advantages over open appendectomy (including shorter hospital stay, an early return to daily activities and less post-op complications). Keywords: Acute appendicitis, Open appendicectomy, Laparascopic appendicectomy, Gold standard, McBurney incision Department of General Surgery, 1 Kanyakumari Government Medical College, Kanyakumari, 2 Thoothukudi Medical College, Kamarajar Nagar, Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, India 3 Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Velammal Medical College, Hospital and Research Institute, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India Received: 20 February 2019 Revised: 11 March 2019 Accepted: 18 March 2019 *Correspondence: Dr. S. Edwin Kin’s Raj, E-mail: dr.saranya@velammalmedicalcollege.edu.in Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2349-2902.isj20191127