Vacation Appendicitis

OBJECTIVE When someone plans a vacation, one of the last things taken into consideration is the possibility of contracting an illness while away. Unfortunately, if people develop abdominal pain while planning for a vacation, they usually proceed with the vacation and do not consider getting medical attention for their pain. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of being on vacation and its association with ruptured appendicitis. METHODS From January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2008, the incidence of ruptured appendicitis cases at Florida Hospital-Celebration Health, located 5 miles from Walt Disney World, was compared with that of Florida Hospital-Orlando, approximately 30 miles away from Walt Disney World. We evaluated whether patients "on vacation" versus residents of Orlando have an increased incidence of ruptured appendicitis. RESULTS Of patients treated for presumed appendicitis, 60.59% at Florida Hospital-Celebration Health had ruptured appendicitis during this time versus 20.42% at Florida Hospital-Orlando. Of those 266 patients seen at Florida Hospital-Celebration Health, 155 were on vacation versus only 21 at Florida Hospital-Orlando. CONCLUSION Although there is not a direct cause and effect, it is clear that there is a higher incidence of ruptured appendicitis in patients on vacation versus in the regular community in the Orlando, Florida area.