• Louise Montalva, Aurore Haffreingue, Liza Ali, Simon Clariot, Florence Julien-Marsollier, Alaa El Ghoneimi, Matthieu Peycelon, and Arnaud Bonnard.
• Department of General Pediatric Surgery and Urology, Robert-Debré University Hospital, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), 48 boulevard Sérurier, 75019, Paris, France.
• Pediatr. Surg. Int. 2020 Dec 1; 36 (12): 1397-1405.

PurposeTo evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic-related lockdown on management and outcomes of children with acute appendicitis.MethodsA retrospective cohort study was conducted, including children treated for acute appendicitis (January 20th-May 11th, 2020). The data regarding the severity of appendicitis and outcome were collected and compared for two time periods, before and after the nationwide lockdown (March 17th, 2020).ResultsThe number of cases of acute appendicitis increased by 77% during the lockdown (n = 39 vs. n = 69, p = 0.03). During the lockdown, children treated for appendicitis were older (11.1 vs. 8.9 years, p = 0.003), and were more likely to live more than 5 km away from our institution (77% vs. 52%, p = 0.017). Less children had previously consulted a general practitioner (15% vs. 33%, p = 0.028), whereas more children were transferred from other hospitals (52% vs. 31%, p = 0.043). There was no difference in terms of length of hospital stay, rate of postoperative intra-abdominal abscess, ER visits, and readmissions between both periods. Three children (4%) were diagnosed with COVID-19 and appendicitis.ConclusionsDespite an increase in the number of children with appendicitis managed at our hospital during the COVID-19-related lockdown, management, and outcome remained similar. Although our pediatric center was strongly affected by this pandemic, maintaining our prior practice strategies for acute appendicitis avoided the occurrence of collateral damage for those children.

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