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Brief Report: Association of Complicated Appendicitis in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

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Abstract

Appendicitis is the most common surgical emergency in children and can lead to significant complications. The aim of our study was to determine whether children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are at increased risk for appendicitis and its complications compared to neurotypical (NT) peers. From 2000 to 2013, 292,572 children were included (n = 48,762 ASD). ASD children exhibited an incidence of 8.66 appendicitis cases per 10,000 person-years, P > 0.05. There was an increased risk of perforation in ASD children age 15–17 years-old (OR 2.25; 95% CI 1.15–4.42) as well as an increased odds of sepsis (OR 3.44, 95% CI 1.43–8.27). Providers should display heightened awareness for the risk of complicated appendicitis in children with ASD.

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Funding

There was no funding support beyond the salary disclaimers, as above, for the completion of this project.

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Author notes

  1. Gregory H. Gorman

    Present address: Defense Health Agency, Falls Church, VA, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Patrick T. Reeves, Apryl Susi, Elizabeth Hisle-Gorman, Gregory H. Gorman & Cade Nylund

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, 8901 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA

    Patrick T. Reeves, Gregory H. Gorman & Cade Nylund

Authors
  1. Patrick T. Reeves
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  2. Apryl Susi
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  3. Elizabeth Hisle-Gorman
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  4. Gregory H. Gorman
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  5. Cade Nylund
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Contributions

PR conceptualized the study, interpreted the data analysis, drafted the manuscript, and approved the final manuscript. AS acquired and organized the data, performed the data analysis, and revised the manuscript. EH contributed to study design, developed the data analysis plan, interpreted the data, and revised the manuscript. GHG contributed to study design, developed the data analysis plan, interpreted the data, and revised the manuscript. CN contributed to study design, oversaw the statistical analysis, interpreted the data, revised the manuscript, and served as subject matter expert and project manager.

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Correspondence to Patrick T. Reeves.

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Conflicts of interest

Salary support was provided for Drs. Reeves, Hisle-Gorman, Gorman, Nylund and Ms. Susi by the United States Department of Defense. The authors have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.

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Disclaimer: This work was prepared as part of the official duties of Drs. Reeves, Hisle-Gorman, Gorman, Nylund and Ms. Susi, who are employed by the United States Army, and Air Force, and Department of Defense, respectively. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Department of Defense, or the United States Government.

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Reeves, P.T., Susi, A., Hisle-Gorman, E. et al. Brief Report: Association of Complicated Appendicitis in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. J Autism Dev Disord 50, 4535–4540 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04499-z

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