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Acute appendicitis in preschool-age children

European Journal of Pediatrics volume 164, pages 80–83 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

During the last 11 years, 122 children aged less than 5 years underwent appendectomy with a preoperative diagnosis of acute appendicitis. At surgery, 29 children (24%) presented with acute suppurative appendicitis, 64 children (52%) perforated appendices and 26 children (21%) with appendiceal abscess. In three cases (2%) there was no acute intra-abdominal process. In this study the following data were analysed: age, gender, symptoms, duration of symptoms, whether seen by a physician prior to admission and surgery, physical findings, stage of the disease at operation, histology, postoperative complications and mortality. Conclusion:The accurate diagnosis in early childhood appendicitis is still a difficult matter. The responsibility of the paediatric surgeon is mainly the clinical examination with all his clinical skills and facilities and if serious doubt still exists, to proceed with a laparotomy in order to reach a definite diagnosis.

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Author notes

  1. George Sakellaris

    Present address: , El. Venizelou 105, 70014 Crete, Greece

Affiliations

  1. Department of Paediatric Surgery, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece

    George Sakellaris, Stefanos Tilemis & Giorgos Charissis

Authors
  1. George Sakellaris
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  2. Stefanos Tilemis
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  3. Giorgos Charissis
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Correspondence to George Sakellaris.

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Sakellaris, G., Tilemis, S. & Charissis, G. Acute appendicitis in preschool-age children. Eur J Pediatr 164, 80–83 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-004-1568-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-004-1568-9

Keywords

  • Abdominal pain
  • Acute appendicitis
  • Gastrointestinal tract
  • Preschool age