Acute appendicitis in childhood in the Negev region: some epidemiological observations over an 11-year period (1973-1983).

In an attempt to explore the possible variation over time of acute appendicitis (AA) 406 medical files comprising all children aged 0-14 years operated on during an 11-year period (1973-1983) at the Soroka Medical Center were reviewed. Only patients that were histopathologically confirmed were included in the study. Soroka Medical Center is the only general hospital providing services to the entire population of the region. Hence, a reasonable coverage of all AA patients is expected. As a result, comparison of incidence rates among different subgroups is plausible. The annual rate of AA was 3.75 operations/10,000 children. The rates were somewhat higher for boys (5.20 versus 2.31, p less than 0.05). They were also higher for Jewish versus Bedouin children (4.44 versus 1.14, p less than 0.05). The highest rate of AA was among children in the 10- to 14-year-old age group (7.79). A gradual increase in the rates of AA during the study period was noticed, over and above the increase in the region's population. However, the ratio of change over time was higher for the Bedouins. Although this cannot be proven, the causes of AA have been hypothesized to be multifactorial. Diet is considered to have an important role in the etiology of AA. Some seasonal trends could be observed, paralleling changes in humidity, viral and bacterial infections, suggesting the involvement of these factors in the etiology of AA.