the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Incidence and Outcome of Complicated Appendicitis

March 5, 2021 updated by: yaron rudnicki, Meir Medical Center

Lockdown With a Price- the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Incidence and Outcome of Complicated Appendicitis

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we noticed a rise in complicated appendicitis cases presenting to our medical center. We collected objective data on all patients admitted to the surgical department with appendicitis during February 2020 - March 2020 compared to the same 2 month period in 2019, to understand the pandemic's affect on the rate of complications of acute appendicitis.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) first broke out in Wuhan and Hubei China during december 2019. On 30 January, WHO declared it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) .

Currently, the number of cases worldwide stands stands at more than 76 million confirmed cases according to the World Health Organization (WHO) records. First documented case in Israel was reported on 21st of february 2020.

During the months of February and April, due to continued rise in confirmed cases, rigid "stay at home" restrictions were issued. These restrictions have had a significant effect on daily life. Under these new "stay at home" policies, many aspects of everyday life were greatly diminished and restricted under threat of heavy fines. This effect also extends to reduction in healthcare seeking. decline in emergency department (ED) visits was reported. A drop in routine cancer screening appointments was reported.

Delayed healthcare seeking also had an affect on the severity of various medical conditions on presentation. fear of the COVID-19 pandemic may have resulted in delayed diagnosis, and therefore higher complication rates in common medical conditions.

acute appendicitis (AA) is among the most common causes of lower abdominal pain leading patients to attend the emergency department. As such, AA could serve as a good indicator for the possible effect that the fear of the COVID-19 pandemic had on patients tendency for late diagnosis and complication rate.

Gomes Laparoscopic Grading System of AA, classifies appendicitis into five laparoscopic grades according to gross morphologic findings during surgical laparoscopy. grades 1 and 2 regarded as non-complicated appendicitis, while grades 3, 4 and 5 regarded as complicated appendicitis.

Following the restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, we noticed a rise in complicated appendicitis cases presenting to our medical center. We collected objective data on all patients admitted to the surgical department with appendicitis during February 2020 - March 2020 compared to the same 2 month period in 2019. Data such as the time period from onset of symptoms to presenting to the ED, inflammatory markers, complicated appendicitis (if any), type of complication, post operative complications. We aim to assess whether the "stay at home" restrictions had any adverse effects on severity or outcomes of AA.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

200

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Israel
      • Kfar Saba, Israel, 4428139
        • Meir Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

all patients who underwent appendectomy in meir medical center, during the study period

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • appendicitis

Exclusion Criteria:

  • any other diagnosis

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
underwent Appendectomy during march-april of 2019
all patients who underwent Appendectomy during the period of march-april of 2019
Procedure: laparoscopic appendectomy
laparoscopic appendectomy
Other Names:
  • abscess drainage
  • consevative treatment
underwent Appendectomy during march-april of 2020 (during covid pandemic)
all patients who underwent Appendectomy during the period of march-april of 2020 (during the COVID19 pandemic lockdown)
Procedure: laparoscopic appendectomy
laparoscopic appendectomy
Other Names:
  • abscess drainage
  • consevative treatment

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
complicated appendicitis
Time Frame: 30 days
any complication during surgery or post-operatively
30 days

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Meir Medical Center

Investigators

  • Study Director: Yaron Rudnicki, MD, Meir medical center, surgical ward B.
  • Principal Investigator: Yaron Rudnicki, MD, Meir medical center, surgical ward B.

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

March 1, 2020

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 30, 2020

Study Completion (Actual)

May 30, 2020

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 5, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 5, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

March 8, 2021

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 8, 2021

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 5, 2021

Last Verified

March 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • MMC-0223-20

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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