[Introduction] Appendicitis is one of the most frequent diseases affecting people of all ages. Several drugs were reported as suspects for appendicitis in Japanese Adverse Drug Event Report (JADER) database, but appendicitis is not listed in the package inserts of these drugs except barium sulfate. We investigate the association of these drugs with appendicitis.
[Methods] We assessed the JADER database between Jan. 2004 and Dec. 2021. Signal was detected when the lower limit of the 95% CI of the reporting odds ratio (ROR) was greater than 1. Time-to-onset profile and ROR adjusted for age and sex were detected by weibull plot and logistic regression analysis, respectively.
[Results] The total number of adverse event reports was 1,551,265, of which 591 were reports of appendicitis. Signals were detected in 22 drugs except barium sulfate. Among them, 8 drugs showed significant shape parameters (ß) in weibull plot and drug-dependent patterns for changes in the risk of appendicitis over time. Adjusted RORs indicated significant association for 5 drugs.
[Conclusion] Our results suggest that several drugs are associated with appendicitis. Among them, the pharmacological mechanism of clozapine is still unclear, and further investigation of the mechanism of clozapine might contribute to establish the management and control of appendicitis.