Perfil epidemiológico dos casos de apendicite aguda atendidos no Estado de Sergipe

Abstract

Introduction: Acute appendicitis (AA) is the inflammation of the appendix, and corresponds to the leading cause of surgical acute abdomen in Brazil and worldwide, with a great impact on public expenses and on the number of hospital vacancies. However, despite being a common condition, current data that solidly dimensions the public demand for this disease in specific regions of Brazil are still scarce. Objective: To describe the epidemiological profile of patients hospitalized for acute appendicitis in the state of Sergipe between January 2017 and December 2022. Methods: This is an observational, cross-sectional, descriptive study with a quantitative approach. The research was conducted from the Department of Informatics of the Unified Health System (DataSUS), in the period from January 2017 to December 2022. Were assessed epidemiological variables, distributions between cities in the state, and details of the hospitalization accessible to the method of those patients whose informations were recorded in the database. Results: From 2017 to 2022 there were 6,250 hospitalizations for acute appendicitis in the state of Sergipe; the main cities found in the study were Itabaiana, Lagarto, Aracaju, Estância and Propriá. A higher incidence of AA was found between the second and third decades of life. The mean length of hospital stay was about 4.28 days; Aracaju was the city responsible for the longest periods of in-hospital stay. The total number of deaths was 29. Higher numbers of appendectomies were found, with a total of 6,319 surgeries. Conclusion: The findings of this study should contribute to the assessment of resources, proposition of improvements in public health, and serve as a reference for future research involving acute appendicitis.