• Christian Beltzer, Frank Haas, Lena-Sofia Jahn, Valerie Bellmann, Jens Strohäker, Arnulf Willms, and Roland Schmidt.
• Department of General, Visceral and Thoracic Surgery, German Armed Forces Hospital, Ulm 89081, Germany.
• Mil Med. 2024 Feb 27; 189 (3-4): e632e637e632-e637.

IntroductionAppendectomy is the treatment of choice for acute appendicitis. The procedure can be performed open or laparoscopically. However, laparoscopy is not available on military missions abroad. It is unclear whether treatment outcomes differ between the two surgical approaches.Materials And MethodsTreatment data of all patients undergoing open and laparoscopic appendectomies in the German Armed Forces Hospital of Ulm from 2013 to 2017 were collected retrospectively. A propensity score matching analysis was performed to minimize the influence of potential confounders and to assess the influence of surgical approach on outcome (reoperations, superficial and deep surgical infections, length of postoperative ileus, need for intravenous analgesics, and operative time).ResultsA total of 542 patients with complete datasets were included in the propensity score matching analysis, among these 64 with open and 478 laparoscopic procedures. There were no statistically significant differences between open and laparoscopic surgeries with respect to all outcome variables, with the exception of a 25-minute prolonged operative time for the open approach.ConclusionsOpen appendectomy can be considered equivalent in outcome to the laparoscopic procedure and thus can be performed on military missions abroad without compromising outcome. Military surgeons must continue to be trained and confident in open appendectomy.© The Association of Military Surgeons of the United States 2023. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

24 keywords...

hide…