Day Surgery for Acute Appendicitis in Adults: A Prospective Series of 102 Patients.

Aim: To report the results of a consecutive series of day surgery appendectomy (DSA) for acute appendicitis.

Methods: Selection criteria for DSA were as follows: body mass index<28 kg/m, white cell count <15,000/mL, C-reactive protein<30 mg/L, no radiological signs of perforation, and appendix diameter ≤10 mm. All patients with radiologically proven appendicitis and 4 or 5 criteria were proposed for DSA and prospectively included.

Results: A total of 102 patients (female=39.2%) were operated between January 1, 2013 and January 5, 2015 with a median age of 29.5 years [interquartile range (IQR), 23 to 37 y]. Diagnosis was mainly supported by computed tomographic scan (75.5%). About 60 patients (59%) were reconvened on the next morning for surgery with oral antibiotics. The median operative time was 40 minutes (IQR, 30 to 52 min), and 92 (90%) patients were discharged on day 0 after a postoperative period of 5h:12min (IQR, 4h:14min to 6h:33min). The overall median hospital length of stay was 8h:04min (IQR, 6h:46min to 10h:23min). Surgical morbidity was 6.9% (n=7), with 1.9% (n=2) major complications.

Conclusions: DSA is a safe procedure for selected patients; it reduces the hospital length of stay without increasing morbidity.