PubMed · 8746997
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M A Pelosi. 1995. Laparoscopic appendectomy.. https://doi.org/10.1089/lps.1995.5.419
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BACKGROUND: The influence of patient preference and treatment costs has not been considered in previous analyses of wound management decisions for contaminated right lower quadrant incisions. STUDY DESIGN: We performed a decision and cost-utility analysis, conducting a MEDLINE search of the postappendectomy wound infection literature to establish assumptions and assign baseline probability estimates. Institution-specific cost data were obtained, and utility assignments were made by the authors. Studies used to assign baseline probabilities fulfilled the following criteria: perforated appendix or gangrenous appendicitis, use of perioperative antibiotics active against aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, and data stratified by wound management, operative findings, and infection rate. RESULTS: We constructed a decision tree comparing three methods of wound management for contaminated right lower quadrant incisions: primary closure, delayed primary closure, and secondary closure. Utility (a quality of life measure) was assigned to ultimate health states to incorporate patient preference. We calculated the cost-utility for each method of wound management and found that primary closure was of optimum cost-utility compared with delayed primary closure and secondary closure. To gain one quality-adjusted life year treating a population of patients with contaminated incisions, primary closure saves $22,635 over delayed primary closure and another $22,340 over secondary closure. This decision, tested by two-way sensitivity analyses, was sensitive only to high primary closure infection rates. CONCLUSIONS: Challenging traditional surgical dogma, cost-utility analysis shows that primary closure is the favored method of management for contaminated right lower quadrant incisions. This analysis is specific to right lower quadrant incisions and the conclusion is valid for all estimated primary infection rates less than 0.27.
BACKGROUND: Appendixes removed from patients with suspected appendicitis often appear normal on histological examination. We examined appendix specimens for expression of abnormal amounts of cytokines, an indicator of an inflammatory response. METHODS: Tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) and interleukin-2 (IL-2) expression was measured by in-situ hybridisation in ten specimens from patients with acute appendicitis, 12 normal appendix specimens removed from patients undergoing elective abdominal surgery, and 31 appendix specimens from patients with a clinical diagnosis of appendicitis but an appendix histologically classified as normal. Cytokine-specific RNA antisense probes were prepared by in-vitro transcription and digoxigenin (DIG) labelled. In-situ hybridisation was done on 5 micrometer paraffin sections. Tissue sections hybridised by sense probes acted as negative control for each cytokine. Following hybridisation, the probes were detected by alkaline phosphatase labelled anti-DIG monoclonal antibody and visualised by nitroblue tetrazolium staining. FINDINGS: All histologically proven acute appendicitis specimens demonstrated intense cellular TNFalpha mRNA expression in germinal centres and moderate levels of expression throughout the mucosa. IL-2 mRNA was strongly expressed in the lamina propria and only moderately expressed in germinal centres. Normal appendixes all showed almost complete absence of TNFalpha and IL-2 mRNA expression. Seven of the 31 histologically classified normal appendix specimens from patients with a clinical diagnosis of appendicitis demonstrated TNFalpha and IL-2 mRNA expression similar to acute appendicitis specimens in germinal centres, submucosa, and lamina propria layers. INTERPRETATION: TNFalpha and IL-2 mRNA expression is a sensitive marker of inflammation in appendicitis. A substantial proportion of histologically normal appendixes showed clear evidence of an inflammatory response in the form of increased cytokine expression.