Medicina

Langenbecks Arch Surg (2011) 396:63–68 DOI 10.1007/s00423-010-0709-z

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Prevention of infectious complications after laparoscopic appendectomy for complicated acuteappendicitis—the role of routine abdominal drainage
Pierre Allemann & Herve Probst & Nicolas Demartines & Markus Schäfer

Received: 10 May 2010 / Accepted: 12 August 2010 / Published online: 10 September 2010 #Springer-Verlag 2010

Abstract Purpose Complicated acute appendicitis is still associated with an increased morbidity. If laparoscopy has been accepted as a valid approach, some questions remainconcerning intra-abdominal abscess formation. Routine prophylactic drainage of the abdomen has been proposed. However, this practice remains a matter of debate, poorly validated in the literature. With thepresent study, we investigated the impact of drainage in laparoscopic appendectomy for complicated appendicitis. Method This is a case match study of consecutive patients operated on by laparoscopyin a single institution. One hundred and thirty patients operated for complicated appendicitis (local peritonitis without perforation, with perforation, or with periappendicular abscess) withprophylactic intraperitoneal drainage were matched one by one to 130 patients operated without drainage. Uncomplicated appendicitis and generalized peritonitis were excluded. Primary endpoint was surgicalcomplications and secondary endpoints were transit recovery time and length of hospital stay.
Author contributions • Study conception and design: Allemann Pierre, Probst Hervé, Demartines Nicolas •Acquisition of data: Allemann Pierre • Analysis and interpretation of data: Allemann Pierre, Probst Hervé, Schäfer Markus • Drafting of manuscript: Allemann Pierre, Probst Hervé, Schäfer Markus • Criticalrevision of manuscript: Demartines Nicolas, Schäfer Markus P. Allemann : H. Probst : N. Demartines (*) : M. Schäfer Department of Visceral Surgery, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois,...