Children's Acute Surgical Abdomen Programme: patient-level predictors of outcome of paediatric appendicitis surgery

Appendicectomy (surgery to remove the appendix) is one of the most common operations in children. While the risk of death is very low, some children do experience complications after surgery, and the reasons for this are not fully understood.

This large UK study followed 2,799 children aged 1–16 years who had surgery for suspected appendicitis in 80 hospitals. It found that about 7% developed complications within 30 days. The study identified several factors linked to higher risk, including poor general health before surgery, signs of infection (such as fever or raised blood tests), and the need for oxygen around the time of surgery.

Importantly, children from Black and other minority ethnic groups were found to have a significantly higher risk of complications compared with White children, even when taking into account socioeconomic background and disease severity.

This research shows that, within the NHS, health inequalities exist in outcomes after children’s surgery. More work is needed to understand why these differences occur and to develop interventions that improve safety for all children, regardless of ethnicity.

Lead Investigators