Evidence map of appendicitis - a living systematic review with meta-analyses.

Authors

Dirk Kleindienst, Justyna Mohr, Katharina Maurer, Eva Kalkum, Julian-Camill Harnoss, Pia Antony, Alexander Dullenkopf, Pietro Renzulli, Pascal Probst, Markus K Mueller

Published in

Langenbeck's archives of surgery. Jul 01, 2026. Epub Jul 01, 2026.

Abstract

Appendicitis is one of the most common diseases of the gastrointestinal tract with a lifetime incidence of 7 to 9%. Appendectomy is one of the most performed emergency surgeries. Recently, non-operative treatments are emerging. It is almost impossible to keep the overview on the large and growing body of evidence on appendicitis. Therefore, the aim of this project was to create a systematic and living Evidence Map of Appendicitis.
PubMed, CENTRAL, Web of Science, EMBASE were systematically and continuously searched for all published and ongoing randomized controlled trials (RCT) and systematic reviews (SR) dealing with diagnosis and treatment of appendicitis. Outcomes from every existing RCT were extracted and trial quality was assessed. RCTs and SRs on identical subjects were grouped to research topics. For specific treatment outcomes, meta-analyses were performed for all research topics with more than 3 RCTs.
Out of 16373 articles screened, 527 RCTs on 104331 patients and 408 SRs were included and grouped into 74 research topics with 31 living meta-analyses. Most RCTs were from Asia (43%),followed by Europe (32%) and North America (15%). Living meta-analyses were performed for 31 out of 74 research topics. For three out of 74 research topics (4%) there were no RCT available.
The Evidence Map of Appendicitis is the ultimate go-to source for evidence on appendicitis. Constantly updated and freely accessible via www.EVIglance.com and as mobile phone app. Clinical decision-making, evidence-based patient information are supported by the primary data provided, as well as by living meta-analyses.
PROSPERO 2023 CRD42023482686.

PMID:
42384223
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 01 Jul 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.