Asim Ijaz, I Riaz, Hamid Hassan, M Hanif, Khalid Shahzad, Irfan Akhtar, M Mussadiq Khan.
Scoring System for the Diagnosis of Acute Appendicitis.
Pak J Surg Jan ;16(3):37-42.

Objective: To evaluate a scoring system for the diagnosis of acute appendicitis and compare the results with the published literature. Design: prospective study. Setting: surgical unit of Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi. Period: Sep. 1998 to Dec. 1998. Materials and methods: 100 consecutive patients (60 males & 40 females) with suspected acute appendicitis were included in this study. They were given specific scores according to the given variables (i.e. sex, initial pain, diarrhea. rebound tenderness, guarding, TLC, DLC). Patients with score <-15 were discharged, with score between -15 to 9 were kept under observation and with score > or = 10 underwent surgery.

Results: The results show that 56 patients underwent appendicectomy with negative appendicectomy rate of 16% (males 11.1 % & females 25%). The perforation rate was 8.5%. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and diagnostic accuracy were 95.8%, 84.6%, 85.2% and 84% respectively. The complication rate was 17.8%.

Conclusion: This scoring system is simple and ideal for supporting the diagnosis of acute appendicitis especially for junior staff.

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