Background and objectives: Transumbilical laparoscopic-assisted appendectomy (TULAA) carries a high risk for surgical site infection. We investigated the effect of a bio-occlusive umbilical vacuum dressing on wound infection rates after TULAA for patients with acute appendicitis and compared to it with a conventional 3-port appendectomy with a nonvacuum dressing.
Methods: This study was a retrospective chart review of 1377 patients (2-20 years) undergoing laparoscopic appendectomy for acute appendicitis in 2 tertiary care referral centers from January 2007 through December 2012. Twenty-two different operative technique/dressing variations were documented. The 6 technique/dressing groups with >50 patients were assessed, including a total of 1283 patients.
Results: The surgical site infection rate of the 220 patients treated with TULAA and application of an umbilical vacuum dressing with dry gauze is 1.8% (95% CI, 0.0-10.3%). This compares to an infection rate of 4.1% (95% CI, 1.3-10.5%) in 97 patients with dry dressing without vacuum. In the 395 patients who received an umbilical vacuum dressing with gauze and bacitracin, the surgical site infection rate was found to be 4.3% (95% CI, 2.7-6.8%).
Conclusions: Application of an umbilical negative-pressure dressing with dry gauze lowers the rate of umbilical site infections in patients undergoing transumbilical laparoscopic-assisted appendectomy for acute appendicitis.
Keywords: Appendectomy; Appendicitis; TULAA; Vacuum dressing; Wound Infection.