Background: In patients undergoing appendectomy, postoperative complications are more likely to occur with complicated appendicitis. Abdominal drainage may occasionally be used to prevent such scenarios. It is unclear, though, how abdominal drains help to reduce problems after surgery.
Methods: Pediatric patients who underwent appendectomy for complicated appendicitis at a tertiary center between October 2021 and September 2022 were reviewed retrospectively. Following appendectomy, patients with and without peritoneal drains were contrasted in terms of preoperative characteristics and postoperative outcomes.
Results: Thirty-seven of 83 patients (44.58%) undergoing emergency laparoscopic appendectomy for complicated appendicitis received abdominal drainage. The drain group had longer hospital stay (9 days [IQR 6-11] vs. 6 days [IQR 4-8], P=0.0002) and longer time to CRP normalization (6 days [IQR 4-9.5] vs. 8 days [7-12], P=0.0222) compared to the no-drain group. The drain group also had a higher complication rate (30.56% vs. 23.81%, P=0.6107), although such finding was not statistically significant.
Conclusions: The use of abdominal drains after laparoscopic appendectomy did not significantly prevent postoperative complications in complicated appendicitis. Instead, it was associated with longer hospitalization, although patients in the drain group are likely to have experienced more severe conditions.