COMPARATIVE STUDY OF IMMEDIATE SURGICAL INTERVENTION VERSUS CONSERVATIVE TREATMENT IN APPENDICULAR LUMP

Objective: Comparative study of immediate surgical intervention versus conservative management followed by interval appendectomy in appendicular lump. Study design: Observational comparative study Place and Duration: Department of surgery, Liaquat University Hospital from October 2016 to December 2017. Materials and Methods: A sample of 100 cases of appendicular lumps was selected who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Diagnosis of appendicular lump was based on patient history, clinical examination, blood investigations and sonography. Patients were randomly divided into 2 groups. Group 1- appendicular lump with immediate surgery cases and Group 2- appendicular lump with conservative therapy. Age, clinical findings, duration of symptoms, hospital stay, functional recovery and post operative complications were noted. Statistical software SPSS 22.0 analysed the data variables (IBM, incorporation, USA) at 95% CI (P <0.05). Results: Male and female in group 1 and 2 were noted as 39 (78%) and 11 (22%), 40 (80%) and 10 (20%) respectively (P=0.0001). Male to female ratio was 3.76:1 Mean± SD age was found 21.5 ± 11.5 years (10 – 60 years). Post operative complications such as intra- peritoneal abscess, necrosis, septicemia and wound infection were found significantly low in immediate surgery cases compared to conservative therapy (P=0.0001). Overall incidence of complication was 3 (6%) in group 1 and 9(18%) in group 2 cases (P=0.0001). Conclusion: Immediate surgical intervention in cases of appendicular lump is preferred rather than conservative therapy followed by interval appendectomy. Key words: Appendicular lump immediate surgery, Conservative therapy, Interval appendectomy