Effect of incidental appendectomy on the development of wound infection in patients undergoing staging laparotomy for Hodgkin's disease.

Two hundred ten patients were retrospectively studied to evaluate the risk of appendectomy performed during laparotomy for staging of Hodgkin's disease. Seventy-nine patients did not have their appendix removed, and a wound infection developed in 1. One hundred thirty-one patients had an appendectomy, and 7 wound infections occurred in this group. This difference was not statistically significant. No patient died as a consequence of their wound infection, and no intraabdominal infections occurred. Our data suggest that the risk for development of a wound infection after a staging laparotomy for Hodgkin's disease is increased by performing an incidental appendectomy as part of the procedure. Although the differences noted were not statistically significant, this was probably due to the sample size. Based on our data, we do not routinely remove the appendix at the time of staging laparotomy.