Background: Indications for laparoscopic appendectomy (LA) remain controversial and poorly defined. We sought to identify indications for LA through a comparison of LA and open appendectomies (OA).

Methods: We reviewed demographics, coexisting medical conditions, radiology and pathology data, hospital course, and complications from charts on all LA patients and a comparison group of OA done from 1991 to 1998.

Results: The following were significantly associated with LA: female sex, higher mean body mass index (BMI), coexisting medical problems, private insurance, and daytime surgery. The OA group was significantly more likely to have: a radiology report suggesting the diagnosis of acute appendicitis, perforation of the appendix, intensive care unit admission, and complications in their hospital course. Forty-one percent of the LA patients did not have appendicitis, compared with 20% of the OA patients.

Conclusions: Daytime surgery, women, private insurance, coexisting medical problems, prior abdominal surgery, higher BMI, and less severe disease appear to be used by surgeons as indicators for LA. The threshold for surgical exploration appears to be lower for LA.