Trends in Pediatric Appendicitis and Imaging Strategies During Covid-19 in the United States

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: To determine if, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, 1) the proportion of complicated appendicitis changed, and 2) if imaging strategies for appendicitis in children changed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective cross-sectional study using administrative data from the Pediatric Health Information System, inclusive of pediatric patients diagnosed with appendicitis from March to May in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. We compared trends during COVID-19 pandemic (March–May 2020) with corresponding pre-COVID-19 periods in 2017–201.9 Study outcomes were the proportion of complicated appendicitis and trends in imaging for appendicitis explained by patient-level variables. RESULTS: The proportion of complicated appendicitis cases increased by 4.4 percentage points, from 46.5% pre-COVID-19 (2017–2019) to 50.9% during COVID-19 (2020), p < 0.001. Mean count of uncomplicated acute appendicitis cases decreased from pre-COVID-19 to the 2020 COVID-19 period (2017: n = 2555; 2018: n = 2679; 2019: n = 2722; 2020: n = 2231). Mean count of complicated appendicitis was unchanged between study periods (2017: n = 2189; 2018: n = 2302, 2019: n = 2442; 2020: n = 2311). Imaging approaches were largely unchanged between study periods; ultrasound was the most utilized modality in both study periods (68.3%, 70.2%; p = 0.033). CONCLUSION: During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the proportion of complicated appendicitis cases increased without an absolute increase in the number of complicated appendicitis cases, but instead a decrease in the number of uncomplicated acute appendicitis diagnoses.