Hirotaka Sasada, MD, PhD1, Ryutaro Hara, MD1, Ken Murakami, MD1, Fuminori Wakayama, MD, PhD1, Takahiro Sakai, MD, PhD1, Koji Nagao, MD1, Tadashi Iwabuchi, MD, PhD1, Nobuo Yagihashi, MD, PhD1, Shunichi Takaya, MD, PhD1, Junzo Nagayama, MD2. 1Tsugaru General Hospital, 2Tokiwakai Hospital
Introduction:
In recent years, popularity of single-site laparoscopic surgery has been increasing because this procedure is minimally invasive. We describe single-site laparoscopic surgical treatment of acute appendicitis.
Methods:
Seventy patients underwent a single-site laparoscopic appendectomy from September 2009 to December 2013. We analyzed this data, which included surgery duration and blood loss.
Results:
There were 22 emergency surgeries among the 70 cases. There were no significant differences between emergency surgeries and interval surgeries (surgery duration: 66 min vs. 62 min, blood loss: 4 g vs. 0 g). The postoperative stay was significantly longer for the emergency surgeries than for the interval surgeries (7 days vs. 4 days). Postoperative intestinal paralysis developed as a complication in 1 case after interval appendectomies, but in 6 cases after emergency appendectomies. In 1 case of an emergency appendectomy, the procedure was converted to a laparotomy.
Conclusions:
There appears to be a higher incidence of postoperative intestinal paralysis after an emergency appendectomy, and in 1 case we had to convert the procedure to laparotomy. Single-site laparoscopic appendectomy generally yields good results and is an appropriate treatment of emergency appendectomy.