Questions of Acute Appendicitis in Children in the Clinic of Emergency Pediatric Surgery in the Sverdlovsk Region

Introduction. Among the causes of acute abdominal pain syndrome in children, acute appendicitis is the most common urgent pathology encountered in pediatric surgical practice. Diagnosing this condition presents several challenges due to the diversity of clinical manifestations, including nonspecific symptoms, the early stages of inflammatory progression, and atypical anatomical locations of the vermiform appendix. Modern diagnostic and treatment methods not only enable timely detection of the pathology but also help minimize hospitalization duration and reduce the risk of postoperative complications. Objective — to conduct a retrospective analysis of medical records of children with acute appendicitis admitted to the Emergency Surgery Department of Children’s City Clinical Hospital No. 9 (Ekaterinburg), assessing disease trends, diagnostic features, and treatment approaches from 2018 to 2024. Methods. During the study period, 11,559 children with suspected acute appendicitis were admitted to the hospital. After dynamic observation and examination, surgical pathology was ruled out in 6,941 (60.05 %) patients, while 4,618 (39.95 %) required surgical intervention. An analysis of annual surgical case distribution revealed a steady increase: 2018 — 428 (9.27 %); 2019 — 558 (12.08 %); 2020 — 592 (12.82 %); 2021 — 731 (15.83 %); 2022 — 714 (15.46 %); 2023 — 790 (17.11 %); 2024 — 805 (17.43 %). Diagnosis was based on a comprehensive assessment of medical history, physical examination findings, laboratory tests (complete blood count and urinalysis), and imaging studies (ultrasound of the abdomen, retroperitoneal space, and pelvis). All resected appendices and pathologically altered tissues were sent for histopathological examination. Statistic alanalysis was performed using MS Excel. Conclusions. The conducted analysis confirmed the significant proportion of acute appendicitis among emergency surgical pathologies in children. The refinement of diagnostic algorithms and the implementation of modern surgical techniques contribute to improved treatment outcomes and reduced patient recovery times.