Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on the Influence of Surgeon Specialization on Outcomes Following Appendicectomy in Children

The aim of this study is to assess the influence of surgeon specialization on outcomes following appendicectomy in children. General surgeons and pediatric surgeons manage appendicitis in children; however, the influence of subspecialization on outcomes remains unclear. Two authors searched Medline and Embase to identify relevant studies. Eligible studies were comparative and provided data on children who had appendicectomy while under the care of general or pediatric surgical teams. Two authors initially screened titles and abstracts and then full text manuscripts were evaluated. Data were extracted by 2 authors using an electronic spreadsheet. Pooled risk ratios and pooled mean differences were used in analyses. We identified 9 relevant studies involving 50,963 children who were managed by general surgery teams and 15,032 children who were managed by pediatric surgery teams. A normal appendix was removed in 4660/48,105 children treated by general surgery units and in 889/14,760 children treated by pediatric units (pooled risk ratio 1.79; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.26–2.54; P = 0.001). Children managed in general units had shorter mean hospital stays compared with children managed in pediatric units (pooled mean difference −0.70 days; 95%CI −1.09 to −0.30; P = 0.0005). There were no significant differences regarding wound infections, intra-abdominal abscesses, readmissions, or mortality. We found that children who were managed by specialized pediatric surgery teams had lower rates of negative appendicectomy although mean length of stay was longer. Our article is based upon a group of heterogeneous and mostly retrospective studies and therefore there is little external validity. Further studies are needed.