{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,15]],"date-time":"2026-09-15T19:29:35Z","timestamp":1789500575171,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":16,"publisher":"Association of Paediatric Surgeons of Nigeria","content-domain":{"domain":["lww.com","ovid.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"Abstract<\/jats:title>\n \n Background:<\/jats:title>\n Acute appendicitis (AA) is a frequent and emergent surgical abdominal condition that presents some particularities and challenges in young children.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Patients and Methods:<\/jats:title>\n \n Data of 402 children aged <16 years with a confirmed diagnosis of AA were retrospectively reviewed. Included patients were divided into two groups: Group A (preschool children aged \u22645 years,\n n<\/jats:italic>\n = 44) and Group B (school children aged >5 years,\n n<\/jats:italic>\n = 358). Clinical presentation, biological findings, calculated diagnosis scores (paediatric appendicitis score [PAS] and Alvarado score), intraoperative findings and outcomes were comparatively analysed between the two groups.\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results:<\/jats:title>\n \n Children of Group A had more likely fever, bowel disorders, diffuse abdominal pain and diffuse tenderness than those of Group B (\n P<\/jats:italic>\n = 0.001,\n P<\/jats:italic>\n = 0.005,\n P<\/jats:italic>\n = 0.006 and\n P<\/jats:italic>\n = 0.001, respectively). Regarding biomarkers, the mean of white blood cell count and C-reactive protein levels was higher in Group A than in Group B (18,849 cell\/mm\n 3<\/jats:sup>\n and 162.8 mg\/L in Group A versus 15,938 cell\/mm\n 3<\/jats:sup>\n and 86.7 mg\/L in Group B,\n P<\/jats:italic>\n = 0.003 and < 0.001, respectively). The mean of calculated PAS and Alvarado scores was higher in Group A than in Group B (8.2 \u00b1 1.1 and 8.2 \u00b1 1 vs. 7.5 \u00b1 1.4 and 7.4 \u00b1 1.5,\n P<\/jats:italic>\n = 0.003 and\n P<\/jats:italic>\n = 0.001, respectively). Most children with a calculated PAS and Alvarado score equal to or higher than 8 belonged to Group A (PAS: 84.1% vs. 58.4%,\n P<\/jats:italic>\n = 0.001, Alvarado score: 84.1% vs. 55.6%,\n P<\/jats:italic>\n < 0.001). The perforation of the appendix was seen in 77.3% of Group A patients and only in 41.5% of children in Group B (\n P<\/jats:italic>\n < 0.0001). The mean length of stay was 5.1 \u00b1 1.9 days in Group A and 4.3 \u00b1 2.8 days in Group B but without any statistical difference between the two groups (\n P<\/jats:italic>\n = 0.094).\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusion:<\/jats:title>\n AA in preschool children is associated with atypical presentation and rapid progression of the disease making the early diagnosis mostly challenging in our settings.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.4103\/ajps.ajps_99_23","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,24]],"date-time":"2024-09-24T11:00:47Z","timestamp":1727175647000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1097\/lww.0000000000001000","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Appendicitis in Children: Does Age Really Matter?"],"prefix":"10.67481","author":[{"given":"Kamal","family":"El Haissoufi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Visceral and Urological Pediatric Surgery \u201cA\u201d, Mohammed VI University Hospital, Oujda, Morocco"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Mohammed 1University, Oujda, Morocco"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"El Hassan","family":"Hadi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Visceral and Urological Pediatric Surgery \u201cA\u201d, Mohammed VI University Hospital, Oujda, Morocco"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Mohammed 1University, Oujda, Morocco"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Salaheddine","family":"Habib","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Visceral and Urological Pediatric Surgery \u201cA\u201d, Mohammed VI University Hospital, Oujda, Morocco"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Mohammed 1University, Oujda, Morocco"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hanane","family":"Aissaoui","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Mohammed 1University, Oujda, Morocco"},{"name":"Laboratory of Epidemiology, Clinical Research and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Mohammed 1University, Oujda, Morocco"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mariam","family":"Atassi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Mohammed 1University, Oujda, Morocco"},{"name":"Laboratory of Epidemiology, Clinical Research and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Mohammed 1University, Oujda, Morocco"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Abdelouhab","family":"Ammor","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Visceral and Urological Pediatric Surgery \u201cA\u201d, Mohammed VI University Hospital, Oujda, Morocco"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Mohammed 1University, Oujda, Morocco"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Houssain","family":"Benhaddou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Visceral and Urological Pediatric Surgery \u201cA\u201d, Mohammed VI University Hospital, Oujda, Morocco"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Mohammed 1University, Oujda, Morocco"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"57241","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"R1-20240924","first-page":"764","article-title":"Acute appendicitis in childhood and adulthood","volume":"117","author":"T\u00e9oule","year":"2020","journal-title":"Dtsch Arztebl Int"},{"key":"R2-20240924","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"185","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jss.2011.07.017","article-title":"Changing epidemiology of acute appendicitis in the United States:Study period. 1993-2008","volume":"175","author":"Buckius","year":"2012","journal-title":"J Surg 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