Were Surgical Outcomes for Acute Appendicitis Impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted healthcare systems throughout the world. We examine whether appendectomy outcomes in 2020 were affected by the pandemic. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 30-day appendectomy outcomes using the ACS-NSQIP database from 2019 and 2020. Logistic regression and linear regression analyses were performed to create models of post-operative outcomes. Results There were no associations between year of surgery and death, post-operative blood transfusions, readmissions, sepsis, or length of stay. There was an increase in septic shock in the first quarter (p = 0.033), reoperations in the third quarter (p = 0.027), and rates of complicated appendicitis in the fourth quarter (p = 0.001) of 2020 compared to corresponding quarters of 2019. Total operative time was longer in the first three quarters of 2020 than 2019. Conclusions There were minimal differences in emergent appendectomy outcomes in 2020 compared to 2019. Surgical systems in the US successfully adapted to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.