Effect of Intraperitoneal Drain Placement on Postoperative Outcomes Following Laparoscopic Appendectomy in Adult Patients With Perforated Appendicitis

Acute appendicitis is the most common acute abdomen, and a small number of patients can progress to perforated appendicitis, which has significantly higher complications than non-perforated appendicitis. Appendectomy is the only option for treating perforated appendicitis. Optimizing the diagnosis and treatment of perforated appendicitis is of great significance to improve its clinical outcomes and save medical resources. There is a consensus that drainage should not be placed after surgery for non-perforated appendicitis, but the decision to place drainage for perforated appendicitis remains controversial. Several retrospective studies have shown no benefit in postoperative recovery and hospital stay, and may lead to increased infectious complications and longer hospital stays. A small number of prospective studies have shown similar conclusions, but the sample size is too small, most of them are children, and there is a lack of large-scale multicenter studies. The investigators' preliminary retrospective survey suggests that in China, most surgeons still commonly place drains for peace of mind after surgery with perforated appendicitis in adults without seeing a clear benefit, so there is a need for a multicenter prospective randomized controlled study to evaluate the need for drainage placement after perforated appendicitis and to guide clinical practice with evidence. To study the effect of abdominal drainage on the postoperative clinical outcomes of adult patients with perforated appendicitis, mainly including: infectious complications (residual infection or abscess in the abdominal cavity, incision infection, fecal fistula, etc.), case fatality rate, pain score, length of hospital stay (LOS), quality of life (QOL) score, etc.

NCT Number	NCT06927765
Lead Sponsor	The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University
Conditions	Perforated Appendicitis
Enrollment	500 participants
Start Date	2024-06-01
Primary Completion	2025-05-31 (estimated)
Study Completion	2025-05-31 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2025-04-15