Epidemiological aspects of patients underwent appendectomy in Birjand, Iran, from May 2017 to 2019

Appendectomy is one of the most performed surgeries worldwide. There are lots of factors involved in the incidence of appendicitis, and most of them vary among populations. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the epidemiological aspects of appendicitis in Birjand, Iran, for the first time.

This prospective study included 666 cases out of 673 acute appendicitis patients treated surgically in Imam Reza Hospital in Birjand, Iran, from May 2017 to 2019. The data were analyzed regarding gender, age groups, and season in SPSS software (version. 22) using a t-test and the Chi-square test. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

The annual incidence of acute appendicitis in Birjand was 12.74 per 10.000 population with the mean age of 25.43±14.97 years. The highest frequency of appendectomy was observed in 11-20-year-old groups (32.1%) and then in 21-30-year-old groups (27.3%). The frequency of the appendectomy was higher in males than females (P=0.005), and the peak of the surgeries was in the summer. Moreover, the majority of the admitted patients in the summer were male (n=123), whereas the frequency of female patients in the autumn was higher than that of males (n=81). The most frequent pathological diagnosis in both genders was acute gangrenous appendicitis (i.e., 44% in females and 40% in the male). Furthermore, the incidence rates of advanced stages of appendicitis, such as "acute supportive appendicitis and periappendicitis" and "acute supportive appendicitis and priappendicitis with perforation" were significantly higher in male than female (P<0.05).

The findings of this study provide basic epidemiological information for the first time regarding appendicitis status in Birjand, Iran. Since the appendicitis was more frequent among youth and was more complicated in males, it is essential to inform these target groups about the signs and symptoms of this medical emergency.