title: Another look at acute appendicitis in tropical Africa: and the value of laparoscopy in diagnosis.
abstract: Acute appendicitis is believed to be one of the commonest causes of the acute abdomen in tropical Africa. Negative appendicectomy rates are usually above 20%, which is now considered unacceptably high because of increased risk to patients and the availability of diagnostic facilities to aid clinical decision-making. Our negative appendicectomy rate over a 4-year retrospective period was 29.7% in males, and 47% in females. These reduced to 11% and 10%, respectively, after the introduction of laparoscopy for doubtful cases of acute abdominal pain.
authors: Department of Surgery, Jos University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria.
authors: B C
authors: BC
authors: Ogbonna
authors: P O
authors: PO
authors: Obekpa
authors: J T
authors: JT
authors: Momoh
authors: J T
authors: JT
authors: Ige
authors: C H
authors: CH
authors: Ihezue
mesh_terms: D000006:Abdomen, Acute / Q000209:etiology; D000208:Acute Disease; D001064:Appendicitis / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014329:Tropical Climate