This study was made to determine, in general, the mortality from acute appendicitis in children and, in particular, the effect on mortality of recent changes in the treatment of peritonitis and of the prevalent, more conservative attitude toward the management of appendical abscess.
During the fifteen year period between 1921 and 1935, 592 children aged 12 years and less were admitted to the Children's Memorial Hospital with pathologic appendixes. Approximately 95 per cent of the children were assigned to the charity wards, where they were cared for by the regular attending staff. The cases have been divided into three groups, a five year period being covered in each division, and each group has been further divided according to the pathologic picture. In the first classification are the cases of acute inflammation or gangrene of the appendix. (Cases in which the appendix was normal or chronically inflamed are not included.) In