Implemented Interventions in Preventing Surgical Site Infection in Pediatric Appendicitis Patients: A Scoping Review

Objective Surgical site infections (SSIs), especially deep/organ-space SSIs, are common and serious complications following appendectomy. This review aimed to explore the interventions that have been implemented to reduce the risk of SSIs in pediatric appendicitis patients.

A literature search was performed using PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase databases of studies in English published between January 01, 1973, and April 30, 2023. Studies on pediatric patients (≤ 18 years) with appendicitis that described any interventions aimed at reducing SSIs and reported SSIs as an outcome were included.

A total of 56 studies were included in the final scoping review. The interventions included antibiotic stewardship, clinical practice guidelines/pathways, different surgical approaches, timing of appendectomy, irrigation or lavage, use of peritoneal drains, timing of wound closure and management, parenteral nutrition, pain management, and outpatient management.

A wide variety of interventions have been studied in pediatric appendicitis patients to reduce the SSI rates. Very few publications have studied low-cost, widely available intraoperative interventions to reduce deep/organ-space SSIs. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Funding Statement This study did not receive any funding Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes Footnotes Funding: This study did not receive any funding. Conflicts of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest related to this article. Data Availability No data was produced in this scoping review manuscript. All the research studies that were included in this manuscript are available on PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase databases