COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFICACY OF COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY TO ULTRASONOGRAPHY IN SUBJECTS WITH ACUTE APPENDICITIS IN INDIAN SETUP

Abstract

Background: The most common reason for abdominal surgery in the Indian scenario is attributed to acute appendicitis. Appendicitis is widely assessed with ultrasonography with it being safe, however, it is difficult to be performed on subjects with massive bodies and needs an operator. CT (computed tomography) scans have high accuracy than ultrasonography with accuracy rates of nearly 95%.
Aim: The present study aimed to comparatively assess the efficacy of computed tomography to ultrasonography in subjects with acute appendicitis in an Indian setup.
Methods: The present study assessed 115 subjects with acute appendicitis suspicion. Acute appendicitis was initially assessed using Alvarado scores. Abdominal ultrasonography was then performed. In subjects with unclear or negative ultrasonography results, a CT scan with oral contrast was done. CT and ultrasonography data were reassessed by radiologist experts and a comparison was made with pathology and surgery results. Also, the comparison was made in two groups.
Results: The negative predictive value, positive predictive value, specificity, and sensitivity of CT scans based on the pathology results in subjects with low clinical suspicion were 79.5%, 94.6%, 87.7%, and 81.6% respectively. The negative predictive value, positive predictive value, specificity, and sensitivity of ultrasonography based on the pathology results in subjects with low clinical suspicion were 67.8%, 94.3%, 74.7%, and 63.2% respectively.
Conclusion: The present study concludes that in comparison to abdominal ultrasonography, CT scan has high sensitivity and specificity in subjects with acute appendicitis.