Diabetes increases the risk of an appendectomy in patients with antibiotic treatment of noncomplicated appendicitis

- About 27.8% of diabetic patients receiving antibiotics for appendicitis underwent an appendectomy.
- About 19.2% of nondiabetic patients receiving antibiotics for appendicitis underwent an appendectomy.
- Diabetes was related to the increased risk of appendectomy for patients receiving antibiotics.

BackgroundThis retrospective cohort study examined whether diabetic patients have a higher risk for recurrent appendicitis during a 1-year follow-up period after successful antibiotic treatment for patients with acute uncomplicated appendicitis than nondiabetic patients using a population-based database.MethodsWe included 541 appendicitis patients who received antibiotic treatment for acute appendicitis. We individually tracked each patient for a 1-year period to identify those who subsequently underwent an appendectomy during the follow-up period.ResultsCox proportional hazard regressions suggested that the adjusted hazard ratio of an appendectomy during the 1-year follow-up period was 1.75 for appendicitis patients with diabetes than appendicitis patients without diabetes. We found that among females, the adjusted hazard ratio of an appendectomy was 2.18 for acute appendicitis patients with diabetes than their counterparts without diabetes. However, we failed to observe this relationship in males.ConclusionsWe demonstrated a relationship between diabetes and a subsequent appendectomy in females who underwent antibiotic treatment for noncomplicated appendicitis.