Laparoscopic Appendectomy for Complicated Acute Appendicitis in the Elderly: A Single-center Experience

Background: The use of laparoscopic appendectomy for complicated acute appendicitis remains controversial in the elderly. This study aimed to compare the postoperative outcomes of elderly patients who received either laparoscopic appendectomy or open appendectomy. Patients and Methods: A single-centre retrospective analysis of the clinical records of elderly patients (age, above 65 y) who underwent operations from January 2012 to November 2015 was performed. Demographic data, intraoperative variables, length of stay, and surgical complications were retrieved. Results: A total of 145 elderly patients were preoperatively diagnosed with acute appendicitis. There were 43 (29.66%) complicated and 102 (70.34%) uncomplicated appendicitis cases. A total of 65 (44.83%) procedures were performed using the open technique (OA group) and 80 (55.17%) using the laparoscopic technique (LA group). In the laparoscopic group, 19 (23.75%) patients had complicated acute appendicitis (CLA group), and 61 (76.25%) had uncomplicated acute appendicitis (UCLA group). In the complicated group, 19 (44.19%) patients underwent operation using the laparoscopic technique (CLA group) and 24 (55.81%) using the open technique (COA group). There were no significant differences between the LA and OA groups in terms of age, sex distribution, duration of symptoms, American Society of Anesthesiologists score, white blood cells, complicated appendicitis, operation time, drain apposition, days to resumption of liquids, and postoperative complications (P> 0.05). Significant differences were found in days to start walking and days to resumption of solids in the LA group (P< 0.05). The OA group had a longer length of hospital stay than the LA group (P< 0.05). Postoperative complications were not significantly different between the groups (P> 0.05). The CLA group had a significantly longer duration of symptoms, operation times, days to resumption of liquids, and days to resumption of solids than the UCLA group (P< 0.05). The COA group had significantly longer days to walking and hospital stays than the CLA group (P< 0.05). Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that using LA to treat complicated acute appendicitis in the elderly was not associated with additional surgical complications. Therefore, it seems feasible to use LA as a safe technique for complicated acute appendicitis in the elderly.