Effect of the introduction of an emergency general surgery service on outcomes from appendicectomy

Background Appendicectomy is a common general surgical emergency procedure and may be used as a surrogate marker to evaluate quality in surgical management. The aim of this study was to assess the outcomes of appendicectomy before and after the introduction of a consultant‐led emergency general surgery (EGS) service at a large metropolitan tertiary referral centre. Methods A retrospective historical control study was performed that included all adult patients undergoing appendicectomy during two 18‐month periods, before and after the introduction of the EGS service. Data collected included patient demographics, use of radiological investigations, time to surgery, length of hospital stay and histopathology findings. Outcome measures were time to surgery, hospital length of stay, use of radiological investigations, negative appendicectomy rate and perforation rate. Results A total of 675 patients were identified of whom 276 had an appendicectomy before the EGS service was introduced (2008–2009) and 399 after its introduction (2011–2012). The EGS service resulted in an increase in time to surgery (15 versus 18 h; P