Abstract
Our hospital started performing laparoscopic appendectomy to treat acute appendicitis in January 2011. The current study compared the postoperative course of patients undergoing a conventional open appendectomy (OA) or laparoscopic appendectomy (LA) , along with the complications of each procedure. Data on the two procedures were gathered during the period from April 2009 to December 2012─the transition period for the switch from OA to LA. Differences in the pre-operative inflammatory laboratory data of patients undergoing OA or LA were not noted. The procedure time was 49.0±22.1 minutes for OA and 71.0±26.6 minutes for LA-thus the LA procedure tended to take longer. Post-procedural complications primarily involved wound infection. If even slight infections are included, then the incidence of complications after surgery was 45.4% for OA patients and 18.5% for LA patients. Laparoscopic appendectomy has merit in facilitating a reduction in postoperative complications.
