Extracorporeal Closure of the Appendicular Stump in Single-incision Laparoscopic-assisted Appendectomy

Abstract

In 2000, we introduced laparoscopic appendectomy for the treatment of appendicitis at our hospital. In 2013, we began to perform extracorporeal closure of the appendicular stump during single-incision transumbilical laparoscopic-assisted appendectomy. In this study, we retrospectively analyzed the effectiveness of this method. We compared the two methods of appendicular stump closure in patients who underwent laparoscopic appendectomy at our hospital between January 2010 and October 2015, namely, intracorporeal closure (first 17 months, 69 cases) and extracorporeal closure (last 32 months, 250 cases). There were no significant differences in the operation time or length of hospitalization between the 2 methods. The latter was associated with a significantly higher incidence of wound infections, but with lower surgical costs. The findings of this study suggest that appendectomies can be performed more efficiently, safely and economically using the extracorporeal method for appendiceal stump closure.