• Melih Akın, Başak Erginel, Abdullah Yıldız, Banu Bayraktar, Fatih Yanar, Cetin Ali Karadağ, Nihat Sever, and Ali Ihsan Dokucu.
• Department of Pediatric Surgery, Şişli Etfal Training and Research Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey.
• Ulus Travma Acil Cer. 2014 Jan 1;20(1):28-32.

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to investigate the potential contributory role of laparoscopic appendectomy in the occurrence of postoperative intra-abdominal infections.MethodsA prospective single-center study including 48 patients who underwent laparoscopic appendectomy was conducted between August 2010 and September 2011. Two peritoneal samples were obtained from each patient in the pre- and post-appendectomy period. Aerobic and anaerobic microbiological cultures were obtained from the samples. The data were analyzed with statistical methods.ResultsThe mean age of the 48 patients (29 male, 19 female) was 10.9 years. Among the pre-appendectomy aerobic cultures, microorganisms were isolated in 18 of the patients (38%), with Escherichia coli being the most common. In post-appendectomy aerobic cultures, various bacteria were isolated in 7 patients (14.6%), with the numbers of bacteria statistically significantly reduced (p<0.05). Anaerobic microorganisms were isolated in 12 patients (25%) and 4 patients (8.3%) in pre- and post-appendectomy cultures, respectively, with Bacteroides fragilis the most common organism; there was a significant reduction in the bacterial count (p<0.05). Each patient was regarded as their own control.ConclusionOur results suggest that laparoscopic appendectomy does not cause an increase in intra-abdominal infections, and particularly not infections associated with anaerobic bacteria.

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