engleski

Hospitalization for appendicitis in Zagreb 2000-2004

INTRODUCTION Acute appendicitis is a common infection, especially in adolescence, with a peak incidence up to age 30. It is also the leading cause of intra-abdominal surgery in children and adolescents. The infection is generally caused by mixed bacterial flora, mostly gram-negative anaerobic bacteria. In Croatia, acute appendicitis poses a major public health problem due to the high prevalence and number of hospital days. AIM The aim of the study was to present and analyze the pattern of hospitalization for acute appendicitis in Zagreb hospitals, thus to point to the magnitude of the issue. METHODS The population of patients treated for acute appendicitis in Zagreb hospitals were investigated. Data were obtained from hospitalized patients database kept at Zagreb Institute of Public Health for the City of Zagreb and Zagreb County. The analysis included all patients hospitalized for this particular diagnosis during a 5-year period (2000-2004). The method of descriptive analysis was used on data processing. RESULTS About 1000 patients were found to be treated at Zagreb hospital for acute appendicitis per year, yielding 8000-9000 hospital days. In 2004, there were 929 patients treated for acute appendicitis with 8140 hospital days and mean length of hospital stay of 8.8 days. During the 5-year study period, there were 5059 patients discharged from the hospital, with 44, 572 hospital days and mean length of hospital stay of 8.8 days. Analysis of the incidence of acute appendicitis according to age groups showed the 10-19 age group to predominate (n=1720 ; 34.0%), followed by the 0- 9 (n=815 ; 16.1%) and 20-29 (n=771 ; 15.2%) age groups. Accordingly, young people under age 29 accounted for 65.3% of the total number of patients hospitalized for acute appendicitis. Analysis of patients hospitalized for acute appendicitis according to sex showed male and female patients to account for 55.3% and 44.7%, respectively. CONCLUSION The number of patients admitted to Zagreb hospitals for acute appendicitis ranged from 929 to 1171, with 8086 to 10, 687 hospital days per year. Study results revealed a high prevalence of acute appendicitis in the <29 age groups, thus posing a considerable public health problem. Also, the slightly higher proportion of male patients recorded in the study was consistent with literature data.

appendicitis ; hospital morbidity

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