Background: Acute appendicitis (AA) is the most common surgical condition in children. Although a higher\nincidence of AA in summer has been reported, the reason for this observation remains unclear. The purpose of this\nstudy was to compare the clinical findings of AA patients who underwent appendectomies during the summer\nmonths with those who underwent the procedure during the non-summer months.\nMethods: The clinical data of 171 patients who underwent appendectomy from January 2013 to December 2016\nwere reviewed. The patients were divided into a summer group (from May to October) and a non-summer group\n(from November to April) based on the month when appendectomy was performed. All patients were under 18\nyears of age at the time of surgery. The medical records including laboratory data, computed tomography scans,\npathology reports and operative notes were reviewed.\nResults: The number of patients with AA was higher in the summer group than in the non-summer group (101 vs.\n70 patients). No significant differences in the laboratory results between the two groups of patients were observed.\nThe percentage of AA patients who presented with a fecalith was significantly lower in the summer group (33.6%)\nthan in the non-summer group (55.7%). No significant differences in the incidence of appendiceal perforations and\nabscesses, as well as postoperative complications were observed between the two groups.\nConclusions: The percentage of AA patients with fecaliths in summer was lower than that in the non-summer\nmonths. The increase in the number of AA patients in summer may be due to the increased occurrence of\nlymphoid hyperplasia, which may be correlated with the yearly outbreak of enterovirus infection during this period.
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