Appendectomy

What is an appendectomy?  Simply put, an appendectomy is a surgical operation in which the appendix, a portion of the intestine, is removed. An Appendectomy is normally performed as an urgent or emergency procedure to treat complicated acute appendicitis.  My operation was an open operation and not a laparoscopically minimally invasive surgery, like they do today.  Recovery may be slightly faster after laparoscopic surgery, although the laparoscopic procedure itself is more expensive and resource-intensive than open surgery that generally takes longer.  Complicated appendicitis should undergo prompt surgical intervention.  In general terms, the procedure for an open appendectomy is with antibiotics given immediately. General anesthesia is induced, with endotracheal intubation and full muscle relaxation, and the patient is positioned supine.  The abdomen is prepared and draped under anesthesia.  The various layers of the abdominal wall are opened.  On entering the peritoneum, the appendix is identified, mobilized, and then ligated and divided at its base.  Each layer of the abdominal wall is then closed in turn and the skin may be closed with staples or stitches as the wound is dressed.  The patient is then brought to the recovery room.  The average stay in the hospital is from 2 to 5 days.  Recovery time from the operation varies from person to person.  Some take up to three weeks before being completely active.  When an open appendectomy has been performed, the patient has a 2–3-inch scar.  About 327,000 appendectomies were performed during U.S. hospital stays in 2011, about 2% of all operating-room procedures.  The first recorded successful appendectomy was performed in September 1731 and the second was in 1735, at St. George’s Hospital in London.  In 1889 in New York City, Charles McBurney described the presentation and pathogenesis of appendicitis accurately.  He developed the teaching that an early appendectomy was the best treatment to avoid perforation and peritonitis.  On September 13, 1980, Kurt Semm performed the first laparoscopic appendectomy, opening the path for a much wider application of minimally invasive surgery.  Obviously, that was after 1973, when I had the open operation.  Anyway, my appendectomy was successful, as I have lived more than 50 years after this operation.  I still list it as my only time that I was hospitalized until the recent Covid-19 action in September, 2022.  I was put out with anesthesia after signing the consent papers for the operation.  When I woke up in the recovery room, Margaret was there.  I was so happy to see her.  They all said that it was a successful operation.  I would live.  That was good news.  What do you know about appendectomies?