Update on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Appendicitis

Dear Colleagues,

Appendicitis is one of the most common abdominal surgical emergencies in adults and children in the world, with a lifetime risk of 8.6% in males and 6.7% in females. The diagnosis of appendicitis is always a challenge. Delays in presenting to the physician and further delays in proper treatment due to misdiagnosis can increase the possibility of complications, especially in children. Although diagnosis is primarily clinical, the utilization of imaging and different scores can stratify patients in low, moderate, or high-risk groups and help in making a timely diagnosis. In patients at moderate to high-risk, surgical consultation should be conducted promptly to reduce morbidity and mortality resulting from the perforation of the appendix. Some controversies over strategies for treating appendicitis have been generated without a complete consensus. Laparoscopic or open appendicectomy is the standard treatment of appendicitis. However, some patients with perforated appendicitis may benefit from immediate surgery or initial antibiotic treatment, followed by interval appendicectomy, and several studies have even suggested a non-operative treatment with antibiotics alone in selected cases. The purpose of this Special Issue is to provide an update on the critical debates regarding the above aspects of appendicitis, and to discuss recent controversies in the field. Original articles, systematic reviews, meta-analyses and short communications on the topics described above are welcome. We also invite relevant basic, translational and clinical research.

Prof. Dr. George Vaos
Prof. Dr. Nikolaos Zavras
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Clinical Medicine is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.