Providers previously believed that appendicitis cases needed to be dealt with swiftly and failing to do so could result in life-threatening outcomes, such as an abscess or peritonitis. One study, however, showed appendicitis patients who waited more than 10 hours to undergo surgery did not demonstrate worse outcomes than patients who received immediate care.
Another study of 33,000 appendectomy patients found timing made no significant difference in their condition 30 days afterward, even when those patients had to wait more than 12 hours after hospital admission to receive medical care. Timing also had no effect on the length of the operation or hospital stay.
Experts say such new knowledge could help operating rooms from becoming unnecessarily overcrowded and keep physicians from needing to come to the hospital in the middle of the night for an appendectomy patient.
Read the news report about appendectomy.
Read other coverage about OR efficiency:
– Triangulating Operating Platform Reduces Surgical Workload During Single-Site Laparoscopy
– 3D Technology Allows Hospital OR Surgeons to Operate More Efficiently
– Laparoscopic Surgery Enables Quicker Recovery, Shorter Surgery Times
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