Abstract
Acute Appendicitis is one of the most common surgical emergencies in the developed world. It occurs most commonly in the second and third decades of life. Despite advances in diagnosis and treatment, it is still associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Objectives: to determine the prevalence, determinants, management and outcome of different types of management of acute appendicitis among Saudi population in Riyadh, KSA. Methods: The present cross sectional community based study was conducted in Riyadh city, the capital of KSA on 336 participant. Data was collected through filling the pre-designed online questionnaire which guided us to the needed data. We utilized the SPSS program version 16. The X2 test was used as a test of significance, and differences considered significant at P value less than 0.05. Results: There were 29.2% of participants had a life time attack of acute appendicitis. It was more prevalent in females than males (P=0.009) and among age group 21-30 years (P=0.01). Regarding symptoms, pain in the lower abdomen was the most common by 42.9% followed by vomiting 34.7%, fever 20.5%, loss of appetite 19.4%, vague abdominal pain 9.3%, and pain in the right side 7.2%, nausea 6.1% and pain in the left side by 4.1%. As regards the management, 54.1% managed by surgery, 33.7% medical management and 12.2% by Herbal remedies at home but 8.2% reported recurrence after conservative treatment.. Complications occurred in 22.4% of cases; the most common was surgical wound infection reported by 14.3% followed by paralytic ileus 8.2%. Conclusion: In our study, the prevalence of a life time attack of acute appendicitis was 29.2%. It was more prevalent in the age group (21-30) years and in females than males, mainly managed by surgery. But recurrence after conservative treatment was reported in some cases.