Risk Factors for the Development of Abdominal Abscess Following Operation for Perforated Appendicitis in Children: A Multicenter Case-Control Study

Hypothesis The morbidity following treatment for perforated appendicitis in children is significant, with intra-abdominal abscess being one of the more serious complications. This can lead to prolonged hospitalizations and antibiotic administration, multiple computed tomographic scans, and invasive procedures. The purpose of our study was to determine risk factors for developing an intra-abdominal abscess following treatment for perforated appendicitis. Design Case-control study. Setting Four tertiary care children's hospitals. Patients Children aged 1 to 18 years with appendicitis. Intervention Multivariable logistic regression. Main Outcome Measures Development of postoperative abscess, length of hospital stay, presence or absence of fever, and tolerance of diet on postoperative day 3. Results Thirty-five (13.2%) of 265 children developed an abscess. Ten factors with a bivariate P value P  = .06). Conclusions Clinical factors commonly thought to be predictive of abscess formation following perforated appendicitis were not reliable predictors of this outcome. Our results suggest that if children are afebrile and eating on postoperative day 3 they can be discharged with a low rate of abscess development.