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Baltimore, MD, United States (AHN) – Children living in areas with fewer pediatricians are at a higher risk of suffering life-threatening appendix ruptures than children living in areas with more pediatricians, according to a Johns Hopkins Children’s Center study.

The researchers said the trend holds true even when accounting for other factors, including the number of hospitals, imaging technology, insurance coverage and the number of surgeons in an area.

The study analyzed 250,000 hospital records of children with appendicitis.

Every year, 77,000 children develop appendicitis, and about a third of the cases result in ruptured appendixes. The appendix is a small tube extending from the large intestine. Infections and inflammations of the organ can be life-threatening.

The Johns Hopkins researchers said their study showed children with appendicitis living in counties with more pediatricians per capita were the least likely to develop complications, and the more children’s doctors in a geographic area, the fewer instances of ruptured appendixes.

The researchers said in a statement that for every 100 children with appendicitis, 12 more children would end up with ruptured appendixes in the areas with the fewest pediatricians, compared with areas with the most children’s doctors.

A full report on the study is published in the December online issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association’s Archives of Surgery.

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