Resumen de Auditing Appendectomy in Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi, Nigeria
Barnabas Eke, Babarinde Ojo, Bamidele Omolobake, Umobong Emanso, Issac Akpor, Raymond Vhriterhire, Victor Ugwu, Michael Enokela Efu, Gyenger David, Confort Udu
Appendicitis is the leading cause of surgical admission in most hospitals in Nigeria and the removed appendix, a frequent surgical specimen in most routine histopathological laboratories in Nigeria. The aim of this study is to audit the appendectomy procedures in Benue State University Teaching Hospital. Sixty-two appendices removed for acute appendix in Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi, Nigeria middle belt, over an 8-year period were analyzed. Twenty-eight (45%) were found to be normal, while 29 (46%) showed histopathological evidence of acute inflammation. There were 5 (9%) cases of unusual pathologies which include a case each of metastatic adenocarcinoma and chronic granulomatous inflammation (2% each) and 3 (5%) cases of schistosomiasis. The Negative Appendectomy Rate (NAR) was 27% in females compared with 18% in males. Adult (>16 years) represented 29% of the NAR. The overall NAR was 45%. The NAR in this study is considerable higher when compared with existing literature. In a poor resource center like Benue State University Teaching Hospital, due diligence in taking detailed history coupled with good clinical examination cannot be over emphasized. The use of a combination of Total Leukocyte Count (TCC) and C-Reactive Protein (CPR) in every patient may help in reducing NAR, though it’s definitely going to be impossible to eradicate it.
