Appendicitis Mortality in a Resource-Limited Setting: Issues of Access and Failure to Rescue

Background: Appendicitis is one of the most common emergency surgery conditions worldwide, and the incidence is increasing in low- and middle-income countries. Disparities in access to care can lead to disproportionate morbidity and mortality in resource-limited settings; however, outcomes following an appendectomy in low- and middle-income countries remain poorly described. Therefore, we aimed to describe the characteristics and outcomes of patients with appendicitis presenting to a tertiary care center in Malawi. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of the Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) Acute Care Surgery database from 2013 to 2020. We included all patients >= 13 years with a postoperative diagnosis of acute appendicitis. We performed bivariate analysis by mortality, followed by a modified Poisson regression analysis to determine predictors of mortality. Results: We treated 214 adults at KCH for acute appendicitis. The majority experienced pre-hospital delays to care, presenting at least 1 week from symptom onset (n = 99, 46.3%). Twenty (9.4%) patients had appendiceal perforation. Mortality was 5.6%. The presence of a postoperative complication the only statistically significant predictor of mortality (RR 5.1 [CI 1.13-23.03], P = 0.04) when adjusting for age, shock, transferring, and time to presentation. Conclusions: Delay to intervention due to inadequate access to care predisposes our population for worse postoperative outcomes. The increased risk of mortality associated with resultant surgical complications suggests that failure to rescue is a significant contributor to appendicitis-related deaths at KCH. Improvement in barriers to diagnosis and management of complications is necessary to reduce further preventable deaths from this disease. (C) 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

By analyzing patients with appendicitis at a tertiary care center in Malawi, it was found that most patients experienced pre-hospital delays in care, and postoperative complications were the significant predictor of mortality. Improving the diagnosis and management of complications is crucial to reduce preventable deaths from appendicitis in resource-limited settings.