Diagnostic laparoscopy: reducing the number of normal appendectomies.

A prospective, controlled study was conducted to determine whether a selective policy of diagnostic laparoscopy could reduce the number of unnecessary normal appendectomies in patients with acute right iliac fossa pain. The cohort consisted of patients admitted with acute right iliac fossa pain by the emergency department. Of 102 patients in the study group, 28 subsequently required a diagnostic laparoscopy when a definite diagnosis could not be reached after 8 to 12 hours of observation. Of these, only 18 had inflamed appendices, which were removed. In the rest of the patients (10), the appendices were normal and unnecessary laparotomies were avoided. In the control group, wherein equivocal cases were laparotomized after a similar period of observation, there was a normal appendectomy rate of 15.7 percent (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of perforation between the control and study groups. Diagnostic laparoscopy in equivocal cases could thus significantly reduce the number of unnecessary appendectomies without compromising on the rate of perforation.