Objetives:

assess the effect of hospital stay length when changing the antibiotic treatment model in pediatric patients undergoing postoperative early appendectomy at the Pereira Rossell Hospital.

Methodology:

a quasi-experimental study was carried out, with a historical control group. The target population was integrated by boys, girls and adolescents, undergoing postoperative early appendectomy in the Pediatric Surgical Ward.

Results:

a statistically significant difference was found in the post-surgery hospitalization time in both groups, a difference that with 95% confidence could be at least 14 hours and at the most 33. The significance of the effect on the hospitalization time of the group that received oral antibiotics after appendectomy, compared to those who received intravenous antibiotics was large.

Conclusions:

the new oral treatment modality implemented for the postoperative period of early acute appendicitis (edematous and phlegmonous) was linked to a shorter hospital stay. This leads, according to existing precedents, to a lower risk of in-hospital infections, less disruption of the child’s family environment and a more efficient use of bed resources.

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