Demographic data: Between 2009 and 2019, 74 patients were diagnosed with an appendicular abscess or plastron and were treated with intravenous antibiotics (see figure 1).
The number of patients diagnosed with appendicular abscess treated with intravenous antibiotics varied each year with a minimum of 1 and up to 11 (see table 1).
Table 1:Evolution of the number of successes and failures to the medical treatment from 2009 to 2019
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
|
1 (100 %)
4 (80%)
7 (64%)
2 (67%)
6 (67%)
0 (0%)
5 (100%)
4 (50%)
6 (55%)
6 (60%)
6 (75%)
|
0 (0%)
1 (20%)
4 (36%)
1 (33%)
3 (33%)
3 (100%)
0 (0%)
4 (50%)
5 (45%)
4 (40%)
2 (25%)
|
1
5
11
3
9
3
5
8
11
10
8
|
Patients included in the success group (n = 47, 64%) and the failure group (n = 27, 36%) were respectively aged 8.7 years old (2-14) and 9.4 years old (2-15) (p = 0.43) (see table 2). Length of hospitalization stay was significantly different between the two groups: 8 (5-12) in the success group compared to 15 days (6-29) in the failure group (p < 0.0001).
Table 2: Demographic, clinical and imaging description of the patients included in the study
Data expressed in n (%) or median (min-max)
|
Successes
|
Failures
|
p-value
|
N
|
47 (64 %)
|
27 (36 %)
|
-
|
Gender
|
|
|
|
Male
|
26 (55 %)
|
13 (48 %)
|
0,55
|
Female
|
21 (45 %)
|
14 (52 %)
|
0,55
|
Age (years old)
|
8,7 (2-14)
|
9,4 (2-15)
|
0,43
|
Weight (kg)
|
30,9 (12,5-69)
|
30,6 (11-68)
|
0,36
|
Duration of symptoms before admission (days)
|
5 (2-15)
|
4,85 (3-10)
|
0,97
|
Antibiotic(s) before admission
|
6 (13 %)
|
7 (26 %)
|
0,21
|
NSAI before admission
|
2 (4 %)
|
2 (7 %)
|
0,62
|
Lenght of hospitalization stay (days)
|
7,9 (5-12)
|
14,9 (6-29)
|
< 0,0001
|
Total duration of antibiotherapy (days)
|
13,2 (5-21)
|
18,8 (7-45)
|
0,016
|
Clinical signs at the admission
|
|
|
|
Vomiting
|
27 (57 %)
|
18 (67 %)
|
0,43
|
Diarrhea/liquid stools
|
9 (19 %)
|
12 (44 %)
|
0,02
|
Palpable mass
|
22 (47 %)
|
18 (67 %)
|
0,09
|
Fever
|
36 (77 %)
|
21 (78 %)
|
0,91
|
Intestinal occlusion
|
3 (6,4 %)
|
3 (11 %)
|
0,66
|
Medical imaging
|
|
|
|
Plastron
|
16 (34 %)
|
5 (19 %)
|
0,15
|
Abscess
|
31 (66 %)
|
22 (81 %)
|
0,15
|
- Simple abscess
|
29 (93,5 %)
|
15 (68 %)
|
0,02
|
- Multiple abscesses
|
2 (6,5 %)
|
7 (32 %)
|
0,02
|
Stercolith
|
16 (34 %)
|
14 (52 %)
|
0,13
|
Other medications received before admission:
In our cohort, 6 (13%) patients of the success group were treated with antibiotics before the admission with amoxicillin (n = 2), amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (n = 1), cefixime (n = 1) or cefpodoxime (n = 1). Two patients (4%) also received non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. In the failure group, 7 (26%) patients were also treated with antibiotics such as: amoxicillin (n = 4), cefpodoxime (n = 1) or ceftriaxone (n = 1, for a suspected acute gastroenteritis with Salmonella spp.)
Clinical symptoms:
Among all the clinical signs, a significant difference was found in the number of children with diarrhea and loose stools in the failure group at admission (p = 0.02). A trend towards a predominance of palpable mass was also observed in this group (nsuccess = 22 (47%) and nfailure = 18 (67%), p = 0.09).
Medical imaging:
Of the 53 patients with abscess, 44 (83%) had a single abscess and 9 (17%) were multiple. Multiple abscesses were more likely to escape the medical treatment (7/9, 78%) compared to single abscesses (15/44, 34%) (p=0.02). Finally, 30 (40.5%) of the patients had stercoliths: 14 (52%) in the failure group and 16 (34%) in the success group. However, this trend was not statistically significant between the two groups (p = 0.13).
Biological values:
At the admission, the CRP level was slightly higher in the failure group (157.4 mg/L [55-341]) than in the success group (131.7 mg/L [9-386]) (p = 0.22) (see figure 2). On the second biological check-up (S2) - i.e., at day 3 [1-9] - it was not possible to dissociate one group from the other (nsuccess = 99.4 mg/L, nfailure = 94.8 mg/L, p = 0.43). The 3rd biological check-up - i.e. at day 6 [3-10] – was the tipping point to distinguish whether the medical management was effective or not because the CRP rate fell by an average of 33% in the success group while it was stable or increasing in the failure group (p = 0.0038).
The figure 3 representing the white blood cell count showed that the values for the first and second biological check-up were not significantly different between the two groups. There was a clear difference between the two group at the third biological check-up (S3) - i.e. at day 6 [3-10] - with a decrease of the values in the success group (10.9 G/L [3.6-21.3]) and an increase in the failure group (15.1 G/L [5.3-28.5]) (p = 0.0018).
Finally, only 17 (23%) patients had a documented infection with bacteria growing in their biological samples. The main bacteria found were strict anaerobic bacteria, Escherichia coli and Streptococcus spp.