Appendectomy is the most common emergency surgical operation in children. The laparoscopic treatment of pediatric appendicitis is controversial, particularly in complicated cases. The purpose of this study is to evaluate laparoscopic appendectomy (LA) and open appendectomy (OA) for simple and perforated appendicitis (SA, PA) in children. A total of 188 patients, operated from January 1992 to September 2003, were reviewed. Ninety-one patients underwent OA (65 SA and 26 PA) and 97 had LA ( 67 SA, 30 PA). There was one conversion of LA to OA in PA. Operative time for LA was longer for OA in PA (55.8 vs. 45.7 min; p=0.0467). Recovery of bowel movement, diet starting time, length of hospital stay for LA were significantly shorter than those for OA. Postoperative complication rate was not different between LA and OA in each group. Laparoscopic appendectomy is a safe and effective method for both simple and perforated appendicitis.

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• Burnout among paediatric surgeons: a systematic review and meta-analysis
  Sebastian Kirdar-Smith, Ricardo Twumasi, Charlotte Capon, Callum Pearse, Vasilisa Smychkovich, Alec Knight
  BMJ Paediatrics Open.2025; 9(1): e004030.     CrossRef
• Comparative Analysis of Laparoscopic Versus Open Appendectomy for Perforated Appendicitis in Children Under 12 Years Old at a Single Institute
  Jun-ho Cho, Jin Soo Park, Il Dong Kim, Ki Ho Kim, Byung Sun Suh, Sang Wook Kim, Hye In Lim, Kook Hyeon Jung, Byeong Geon Jung
  The Journal of Minimally Invasive Surgery.2013; 16(3): 69.     CrossRef
• Laparoscopic Appendectomy in Children with Perforated Appendicitis
  So-Hyun Nam, Dae-Yeon Kim, Seong-Chul Kim, In-Koo Kim
  Journal of the Korean Surgical Society.2009; 76(1): 47.     CrossRef

Pediatric laparoscopic splenectomy has gained increasing acceptance in the surgical management of a variety of splenic disorders, in particular hematologic diseases. We report our experience with 16 patients who underwent this procedure because of hematologic disorders during the past 3 and a half years at the Department of Surgery, St. Mary's Hospital, Catholic University Medical College. The mean age was 10 years (Range 6-16 years) and the mean spleen weight was 210 gm (Range 85-500 gm). The indications for splenectomy were hereditary spherocytosis (6 cases), idiopatic thrombocytopenic purpura (8 cases), autoimmune hemolytic anemia (1 case), and idiopatic splenomegaly (1 case). All splenectomies were performed safely with mean estimate blood loss of 233 ml. Mean operative time and mean postoperative hospital stay was 157 min and 4.5 days. Respectively postoperative pain medication was needed in 3 case, just one injection in immediate postoperative period. Diet was started on posterative second day or third day. In conclusions, Laparoscopic splenectomy in pediatric patients surely is a safe procedure, offering better cosmesis, much less pain, and shorter hospital stay with lower post operative mobidity.