Clinical trial NCT04407117: Appendicitis During the National Lockdown During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Official title: Change in the Incidence of Appendicitis in a Controlled Environment During the National Lockdown Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Appendicitis
Keywords: COVID-19
Pandemic
Incidence
Lead sponsor: Nordsjaellands Hospital
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2020-05-29
Enrollment: 6000000
Sex: ALL
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Observational model: COHORT
Time perspective: RETROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: All persons registered in the Danish National Patient Register, i.e. all persons resident in Denmark

Brief summary: The study aims to examine whether a nationwide lock-down with an entire population subjugated to social distancing reduces the incidence of appendicitis. If a reduction is detected it supports the hypothesis that infectious disease may play a role in the etiology of appendicitis.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

Registered in the Danish National Patient Register during the study period

Exclusion Criteria:

None

Primary outcomes:
measure: Appendectomy
timeFrame: 5 weeks
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Postoperative length of stay
timeFrame: 30 days
measure: Mortality
timeFrame: 30 days
measure: Incidence of complicated appendicitis
timeFrame: 5 weeks
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Hillerød
country: Denmark
facility: Nordsjaellands Hospital
Study officials:
affiliation: Nordsjaellands Hospital
name: Claus A Bertelsen, PhD
role: STUDY_DIRECTOR
References:
citation: Addiss DG, Shaffer N, Fowler BS, Tauxe RV. The epidemiology of appendicitis and appendectomy in the United States. Am J Epidemiol. 1990 Nov;132(5):910-25. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a115734.
citation: Bhangu A, Soreide K, Di Saverio S, Assarsson JH, Drake FT. Acute appendicitis: modern understanding of pathogenesis, diagnosis, and management. Lancet. 2015 Sep 26;386(10000):1278-1287. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(15)00275-5.
citation: Lamps LW. Infectious causes of appendicitis. Infect Dis Clin North Am. 2010 Dec;24(4):995-1018, ix-x. doi: 10.1016/j.idc.2010.07.012.
citation: Dzabic M, Bostrom L, Rahbar A. High prevalence of an active cytomegalovirus infection in the appendix of immunocompetent patients with acute appendicitis. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2008 Feb;14(2):236-41. doi: 10.1002/ibd.20299.
citation: Carr NJ. The pathology of acute appendicitis. Ann Diagn Pathol. 2000 Feb;4(1):46-58. doi: 10.1016/s1092-9134(00)90011-x.
citation: Hsu YJ, Fu YW, Chin T. Seasonal variations in the occurrence of acute appendicitis and their relationship with the presence of fecaliths in children. BMC Pediatr. 2019 Nov 16;19(1):443. doi: 10.1186/s12887-019-1824-9.
citation: Wei PL, Chen CS, Keller JJ, Lin HC. Monthly variation in acute appendicitis incidence: a 10-year nationwide population-based study. J Surg Res. 2012 Dec;178(2):670-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jss.2012.06.034. Epub 2012 Jul 6.
citation: Stein GY, Rath-Wolfson L, Zeidman A, Atar E, Marcus O, Joubran S, Ram E. Sex differences in the epidemiology, seasonal variation, and trends in the management of patients with acute appendicitis. Langenbecks Arch Surg. 2012 Oct;397(7):1087-92. doi: 10.1007/s00423-012-0958-0. Epub 2012 Jun 2.
citation: Ilves I, Fagerstrom A, Herzig KH, Juvonen P, Miettinen P, Paajanen H. Seasonal variations of acute appendicitis and nonspecific abdominal pain in Finland. World J Gastroenterol. 2014 Apr 14;20(14):4037-42. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i14.4037.
citation: Reinisch A, Heil J, Woeste G, Bechstein W, Liese J. The meteorological influence on seasonal alterations in the course of acute appendicitis. J Surg Res. 2017 Sep;217:137-143. doi: 10.1016/j.jss.2017.05.015. Epub 2017 May 10.
citation: Lynge E, Sandegaard JL, Rebolj M. The Danish National Patient Register. Scand J Public Health. 2011 Jul;39(7 Suppl):30-3. doi: 10.1177/1403494811401482.
citation: Pedersen CB. The Danish Civil Registration System. Scand J Public Health. 2011 Jul;39(7 Suppl):22-5. doi: 10.1177/1403494810387965.
citation: Kleif J, Thygesen LC, Gogenur I. Validity of the diagnosis of appendicitis in the Danish National Patient Register. Scand J Public Health. 2020 Feb;48(1):38-42. doi: 10.1177/1403494818761765. Epub 2018 Mar 19.
citation: Jantzen AT, Bang-Nielsen A, Bertelsen CA, Torp-Pedersen C, Kleif J. Incidence of appendicitis during COVID-19 lockdown: A nationwide population-based study. Scand J Surg. 2022 Apr-Jun;111(2):14574969221089387. doi: 10.1177/14574969221089387.