Abstract
The following results were obtained in the statistical survey of acute appendicitis of infants and children (under 13 years old) during the 8-year period, 1951 to 1958, at the 2nd Tokyo National Hospital.
During the same period there were 5, 750 operations for appendicitis all age groups in the same hospital and those of infants and children were 642 cases (11.2%).
1) Age & sex: As the older the age, the more the number of cases increased, counting 313 cases of males and 329 cases of females.
2) Season & month: The most large number of cases were operated in spring, then comes in summer time. In May the most, and in July, April and August followed.
3) Symptoms & signs: On the first physical examination, patients showed almost the same symptoms and signs as the adults, complaining of pain in epigastrium accompaning by the other symptoms; nausea and vomiting, more often diarrhea was complained than constipation.
4) Leucocytosis & fever: The number of leucocytes and the rise of body temperature were not always parallel to the state of the patients, for instance we have experienced many cases of perforation (11.7%) even when the number of leuicocytes were under 10, 000, and in 16% the body temperature were under 37°C.
5) Perforation: The perforated cases were 17.5%, and the percentage of the panperitonitis were more common compared with the adults cases.
6) Mortality: During our series of acute appendicitis of infants and children no mortality was experienced.
