Comparison of Open and Laparoscopic Appendectomy in Children: A 5-year Single Center Experience

Objective To compare the outcomes of treatment in children with acute appendicitis between laparoscopic and open surgical approaches. Design Retrospective study. Setting Division of Pediatric Surgery at a tertiary-care hospital in Croatia between January 2012 to December 2016. Patients 834 children [median (IQR) age 13 (11,15)] who underwent appendectomy; 301 in the laparoscopic group and 533 in the open group. Main outcome measures Postoperative complications, duration of hospitalization, re-operation, and the quantity of analgesics used. Results The median length of hospital stay was 3 days in laparoscopic group compared to 6 days in open group ( P