Objective: To determine the usefulness of the Alvarado score and the Pediatric Appendicitis score (PAS) in the Pediatric Emergency of the National Hospital Daniel A. Carrion. Materials and methods: A prospective observational study was carried out of patients younger than 15 years of age with abdominal pain and suspected acute appendicitis (AA) attending the Pediatric Emergency in a Hospital of Lima, Peru. These patients underwent a survey to assess the parameters of the Alvarado score and PAS. Results: Three hundred and seventeen patients with abdominal pain and suspected of AA were recruited over a study period of 12 months. Of the patients, 232 were considered to have AA clinically and underwent surgery. 85.3% were confirmed by pathology and 14.7% were normal. The mean Alvarado score was 8.27±1.31; the mean Surgical Procedure Assessment (SPA) score was 8.08±1.47. Sensitivity and specificity for both scores are equivalent. The area under the curve for the Alvarado score and SPA were 0.887 and 0.901, respectively. Alvarado score higher than 6 had a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and accuracy of 88.9, 75.6, 97.4, 68.1, and 86.4%, respectively. SPA higher than 6 points had sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy of 84.3, 80.7, 94.7, 73.1, and 86.7%, respectively. Conclusion: Alvarado score and the PAS are scores with high sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and accuracy for the diagnosis of AA when the score is higher than 6 points. The results found in our study justify their use in emergency services, but they should not be used as the only means of clinically determining the need for surgery.

A Thesis submitted to The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Medicine.

A Thesis submitted to The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Medicine. / CT abdomen and pelvis is a widely-used imaging modality used in the evaluation of appendicitis but it carries risks of radiation. A recent retrospective review localizes all appendices (both normal and abnormal) below the level of the L1 vertebral body, obviating the need to scan superior to that level. This study is a retrospective review of prospectively-collected data from 171 consecutive pediatric patients presenting with clinical suspicion of acute appendicitis and undergoing “low FOV CT.” The low FOV CT uses the L1 vertebral body as the superior aspect of the exam instead of the of the dome of the diaphragm as in standard CT.

No description available.

<p>The aim was to identify diagnostic difficulties for acute abdominal pain at the emergency department and during hospital stay. A total of 3349 patients admitted to Mora Hospital with acute abdominal pain of up to seven days duration, were registered prospectively for history and clinical signs according to a structured schedule. The preliminary diagnosis from the attending physician at the emergency department, any investigations or surgery and final diagnosis were registered at a follow-up after at least one year. </p><p>There were no differences in diagnostic performance between physicians with 0.5 to 5 years of medical experience. The information collected and a careful examination of the patient was more important than formal competence. The main differential diagnostic problem was non-specific abdominal pain; this was the same for diagnoses requiring surgery. Patients originally diagnosed as not needing surgery had a median delay before operation of 22 hours (mean 40 hours, with 95% confidence interval of 30-50 hours), compared to 8 hours (mean 15 hours, 95% confidence interval of 12-28 hours) for patients with the same final follow-up diagnosis as the preliminary diagnosis. Constipation was a diagnostic pitfall, as 9% of the patients considered constipated required surgery for potentially life threatening reasons and 8% were later found to have an abdominal malignancy. Both the preliminary diagnosis and the discharge diagnosis were less reliable for elderly patients than for younger patients. Elderly patients often had specific organ disease and arrived at the emergency department after a longer history of abdominal pain. </p><p>This study confirms that assessment of suspected appendicitis can still be based on clinical judgements combined with laboratory tests. Classical clinical findings indicating localised inflammation, such as isolated pain in the right iliac fossa, rebound tenderness, right-sided rectal tenderness, pain migration to the right iliac fossa, local guarding and aggravation of pain when moving, were reliable for predicting acute appendicitis. A CT scan can be saved for the more equivocal cases of acute abdominal pain. A generous strategy regarding CT scan among elderly patients with acute abdominal pain, even in the absence of pronounced signs of an inflammatory intra-abdominal process, is recommended.</p>

The aim was to identify diagnostic difficulties for acute abdominal pain at the emergency department and during hospital stay. A total of 3349 patients admitted to Mora Hospital with acute abdominal pain of up to seven days duration, were registered prospectively for history and clinical signs according to a structured schedule. The preliminary diagnosis from the attending physician at the emergency department, any investigations or surgery and final diagnosis were registered at a follow-up after at least one year. There were no differences in diagnostic performance between physicians with 0.5 to 5 years of medical experience. The information collected and a careful examination of the patient was more important than formal competence. The main differential diagnostic problem was non-specific abdominal pain; this was the same for diagnoses requiring surgery. Patients originally diagnosed as not needing surgery had a median delay before operation of 22 hours (mean 40 hours, with 95% confidence interval of 30-50 hours), compared to 8 hours (mean 15 hours, 95% confidence interval of 12-28 hours) for patients with the same final follow-up diagnosis as the preliminary diagnosis. Constipation was a diagnostic pitfall, as 9% of the patients considered constipated required surgery for potentially life threatening reasons and 8% were later found to have an abdominal malignancy. Both the preliminary diagnosis and the discharge diagnosis were less reliable for elderly patients than for younger patients. Elderly patients often had specific organ disease and arrived at the emergency department after a longer history of abdominal pain. This study confirms that assessment of suspected appendicitis can still be based on clinical judgements combined with laboratory tests. Classical clinical findings indicating localised inflammation, such as isolated pain in the right iliac fossa, rebound tenderness, right-sided rectal tenderness, pain migration to the right iliac fossa, local guarding and aggravation of pain when moving, were reliable for predicting acute appendicitis. A CT scan can be saved for the more equivocal cases of acute abdominal pain. A generous strategy regarding CT scan among elderly patients with acute abdominal pain, even in the absence of pronounced signs of an inflammatory intra-abdominal process, is recommended.

Introduction The lifetime risk to develop acute appendicitis is estimated to 7-8%. Even if the condition iscommon and tools for diagnosis are existing, it is challenging to obtain a confident preoperativediagnosis which can explain differences in outcomes and complications. Aim The aim of this study was to analyze and compare differences in management and outcomesbetween patients with acute appendicitis at Karlstad Central Hospital. Methods The study was a retrospective cohort analysis comparing management between pediatric andadult patients and outcomes between patients who developed complications and patients who didnot at Karlstad central hospital between 2020-11-01 and 2021-05-31. Results Ultrasound was more often used in children than adults, 66.7% versus 10.5% (p=0.001), whereascomputed tomography (CT) was more used diagnosing adults, 73.5% versus 0% (p=&lt;0.001). Inyounger adults (17-39) 69% had CT performed versus 96% in patients above 40 (p=&lt;0.00005).Open appendectomy was more common among children, 25% versus 4.6% (p=&lt;0.01) whilstlaparoscopic appendectomy was more common in adults, 90% versus 75% (p=&lt;0.001). A longertime to intervention was seen in the adult complication group (p=0.004). Laparoscopicappendectomy was more common in the adult non-complication group 93.3% versus 78.10%(p=0.037). Conclusion There was a longer duration between admission and surgery and a higher initial CRP amongpatients that developed complications. Furthermore, in younger adults a high percentage of CTswhere performed compared to international guidelines. This indicates that there might be roomfor improvement in the management of appendicitis at CSK.

Most intra-abdominal infections such as acute appendicitis require surgical intervention. The use of antimicrobials, however, is essential in the treatment complementation and reduction of surgical site infection (SSI). The present study aims to make a critical analysis of the use of antimicrobials use, anatomopathological stage and surgical site infection after appendectomy. It were analyzed the demographic data, antimicrobial scheme chosen, the beginning of antimicrobial, usage time and evolution as the SSI associated with the anatomopathological stage of resected appendices. 233 patients were evaluated between 14 years and 78 years with male predominance (135 / 57.94%) and in the third decade of life (72 / 30.90%). In 139 patients (59.65%) surgical time was up to two hours with a predominance of Phlegmonous Acute Appendicitis (91 / 39.05%) and Necrotizing Acute Appendicitis (88 / 37.76%). The antimicrobial scheme most used was a combination of Ampicillin/Sulbactam totalizing 127 (54.50%) patients. Most patients had the start of the antimicrobial scheme in anesthetic induction (212 /90.94%). Regarding the usage time of antimicrobials, the prevalence was of less than 24 hours of use (122 / 52.36%) and 16 (6.87%) presented SSI. Based on the anatomopathological classification on nonnecrotic appendices, 145 (62.23%) patients should have used a single antimicrobial dose or at maximum for 24 hours. Of patients with non-necrotic appendix, only 60 (41.37%) used one dose; 15 (10.34%) used 2 to 4 doses and 70 (48.29%) used more than four doses of antimicrobial. In 16 (6.87%) patients considered with normal appendix were used more than four doses of antimicrobials. In the analysis of the SIRI SSI in perspective, no patient presented with SIRI 0 SSI (4 / 5.79%) patients presented with an SIRI SSI (9 / 5.88%) patients had 2 SIRI SSI and (1 / 12.5) 3 SIRI SSI presented. Based on anatomopathological association (necrotic and non-necrotic) of resected appendices for clinical suspicion of acute appendicitis and the use of antimicrobials, we can conclude: there was unnecessary use of more than one dose of antimicrobials in patients with uncomplicated appendicitis. / A maioria das infecções intra-abdominais, como apendicite aguda, necessita de intervenção cirúrgica. O uso de antimicrobianos, entretanto, é fundamental na complementação do tratamento e redução de infecção do sítio cirúrgico (ISC). O presente estudo tem como objetivo fazer uma análise crítica entre o uso de antimicrobianos, o estádio anátomo-patológico e infecção do sítio cirúrgico após apendicectomia. Foram analisados os dados demográficos, esquema de antimicrobiano escolhido, início do antimicrobiano, tempo de uso e evolução quanto a ISC associada com o estádio anátomo-patológico dos apêndices ressecados. Foram avaliados 233 pacientes entre 14 anos e 78 anos, com predominância do sexo masculino (135 / 57,94%) e na terceira década de vida (72 / 30,90%). Em 139 pacientes (59,63%) o tempo cirúrgico foi de uma a duas horas, com predominância da Apendicite Aguda Flegmonosa (91 / 39,05%) e Apendicite Aguda Necrosante, (88 / 37,76%). O esquema antimicrobiano mais utilizado foi a associação de Ampicilina /Sulbactam, totalizando 127 (54,50%) pacientes. A maioria dos pacientes teve o início do esquema antimicrobiano à indução anestésica, (212 / 90,94%). Em relação ao tempo de uso do antimicrobiano, a prevalência foi de menos de 24 horas de uso, (122 / 52,36%) e 14 (6,01%) apresentaram ISC. Baseado na classificação anátomo-patológica em apêndices não-necrosados, 145 (62,24%) pacientes deveriam ter usado antimicrobiano em dose única ou no máximo por 24 horas. Dos pacientes com apêndice não-necrosados apenas 60 (41,37%) usaram uma dose; 15 (10,34%) usaram de 2 a 4 doses e 70 (48,29%) usaram mais de 4 doses de antimicrobianos. Em 16 (6,87%) pacientes considerados com o apêndice normal foram usadas mais de 4 doses de antimicrobianos. Na análise das ISC sob perspectiva do Índice de Risco de Infecção Cirúrgica (IRIC), nenhum paciente com IRIC 0 apresentou ISC; (4 /5,79%) dos pacientes com IRIC 1 apresentaram ISC;( 9 / 5,88%) dos pacientes IRIC 2 apresentaram ISC e (1/ 12,5%) IRIC 3 apresentaram ISC. Baseado na associação entre o anátomo-patológico (necrosados e não necrosados) dos apêndices ressecados por suspeita clínica de apendicite aguda e o uso de antimicrobianos, podemos concluir que: houve uso desnecessário de mais de uma dose de antimicrobianos nos pacientes com apendicite não complicada. / Mestre em Ciências da Saúde