Background: Appendicular mass, a common surgical clinical entity is noticed in about 2–6% of patients and present with features of acute appendicitis. Treatment of appendicular mass is often cited as being controversial. Earlier, these patients were managed conservatively which was then followed by an interval appendicectomy carried out 4–6 weeks later. The need for interval appendicectomy has also been questioned. Early surgery on the other hand has an advantage of being curative in the index admission and ensures early return to work and higher compliance. A true controversy exists as to which is the best approach towards this problem and the opinion is divided about the management of an appendicular mass. The present study is designed to evaluate feasibility and safety of immediate appendicectomy in appendicular mass in our hospital by comparing the results of an equal number of patients treated conservatively. Title: Management of appendicular mass: comparative study between different modalities. Aim: To study the effective management of appendicular mass. Materials and Methods: This study is prospective interventional study and included patients aged between 15 to 70 years diagnosed with appendicular mass. Data collected included history, clinical presentation, investigation, diagnosis, surgery, complications and length of hospital stay. Results: A total of 30 patients were admitted with diagnosis of appendicular mass, 15 pts were treated with ochsnersherren regimen out of which 6 were treated with interval appendectomy and other 15 patients were treated with open appendectomy. Conculsion: Patients with appendicular mass who were treated with open appendectomy had longer duration of hospital stay associated with wound infection when compared to that of patients treated with ochsnersherren regimen and interval appendectomy. Therefore this study favors ochsnersherren regimen as preferred approach for the treatment of appendicular mass.

Keywords: Appendicular mass; ochsnersherren regimen; Acute appendicitis