Assessingthe prevalence and treatment outcomes of acute appendicitis at nekemit referrl hospital, nekemite town, oromia, Ethiopia

Abstract

Introduction: Appendicitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the vermiform appendix. It is classified as a surgical emergency and many cases require removal of the inflamed appendix of either by laparotomy or laparoscopy .Untreated, mortality is high, mainly because of rupture leading to peritonitis and shock. Objectives: To determine the prevalence and treatment outcome of acute appendicitis in Nekemte Referral Hospital, in Eastern zone of wollegaOromia Region, Ethiopia from Sept 1, 2011-Sept1, 2014 G. C Methods;- A retrospective cross sectional analysis were undertaken with complete survey on 256 cases of acute appendicitis surgically managed at Nekemet Referral Hospital from Sept 1 2011- Sept 1 2014 G C. The quantitative data were entered in to statistical software version 16.0 and were cleaned, edited, the frequency distribution of variables were examined to check for data entry errors (e.g. unrecognized of missing codes, out of range values). The data were described and presented using narrative text,tables graphs and using advanced statistical analysis. Result: In this study acute appendicitis accounted for 71.1% of the operations for acute abdominal emergencies and 1.5% of total hospital admissions. There were 162 male and 94 females giving a male to female ratio of 1.7:1. The mean age was 25.6± 15.2 years (range 7- 84years). The average duration of illness at presentation and hospital stay was 2.3± 1.9 days and 3.4± 1 days, respectively. All the cases presented with abdominal pain and a shift of peri - umblical pain to the right lower quadrant was found in the majority. Right lower quadrant tenderness was the leading physical finding. The rate simple and perforated appendicitis were 65.2% and 21.5%, respectively19.9% of the pts had post- operative wound infection. Out of the 256 cases operated up on acute appendicitis there was no death encountered Conclusion: The study showed that the prevalence of acute appendicitis was high in Nekemt Referral Hospital, and appendectomy was the commonest surgical abdominal procedure during the period under the study. Treatment outcome were also relatively good, and the results of the study were compared with those from elsewhere.