Perforated appendicitis vs non-perforated appendicitis.

Of 156 patients with acute appendicitis, seen during 24 months, 21 had perforated. Age over 30 years especially in males, duration of symptoms over 48 hours, pulse rate on admission exceeding 100/ minute, generalised abdominal tenderness, leucocyte count in excess of 10,000 mm3 and a neutrophilia in excess of 70 percent, characterized patients with appendicular perforation. The rate of complications was twice as much in the perforated group (JPMA 37: five times greater and the mean hospital stay nearly 325 , 1987. MATERIAL AND METHODS This is a retrospective study of 156 patients who had appendicectomy during the 2 year period (198384) in Surgical Unit II of Rawalpindi General Hospital. These patients represent 10 percent of all admissions to the Unit, during this period. Twenty one patients had per. forated appendicitis while in 135, the appendix was inflamed but not perforated. To determine the differentiating features of perforated appendicitis, age, sex, duration of symptoms before admission to hospital, physical signs, total and differential white cell count, the. incidence of post operative complications as well as duration of hospitalization were analyzed.