A study of 212 cases of transumbilical laparoscopic-assisted appendectomy for acute appendicitis

Abstract

Introduction : Attention has come to be paid to laparoendoscopic single-site surgery. We present a retrospective study about transumbilical laparoscopic-assisted appendectomy (TULAA) performed in our hospital. Method : We enrolled 212 patients who were appendectomised for acute appendicitis by TULAA in our hospital between July 2005 and April 2010. The completion rate of TULAA was examined from their medical records. Morbidity and mortality were compared between TULAA and open appendectomy patients treated in the same period. Results : TULAA was completed in 169 cases (79.7%) and conversion to open surgery was needed in eight cases (3.8%). The risk factors of the additional port were the age over 21 years and the Body Mass Index (BMI) over 21. Postoperative complications occurred in three cases (1.4%) in the TULAA patient group and in 40 cases (9.6%) in the open appendectomy group. TULAA showed a significantly lower incidence than open appendectomy in provoking postoperative complications. Conclusions : TULAA appears to be a safe and useful surgical procedure for selected cases of appendicitis. The risk factors were related to the age and the BMI value of the patients.