Abstract

No perfect diagnostic evaluation tool exists to detect appendicitis if symptoms are ambiguous. If symptoms are vague diagnostic process takes longer, thus delaying surgery increasing the possibility of complications. On the other hand, hasty operation without accurate diagnosis will lead to negative appendectomy, increasing the morbidity and cost of treatment. In this study, over a period of one year,100 patients presenting with pain in the right lower quadrant of abdomen, who after clinical examination were provisionally diagnosed to have acute appendicitis and warranting surgery for the same were evaluated using the scoring system – Alvarado Score. Alvarado diagnosed 75 patients as acute appendicitis (at score>4) of which 5 cases were false positive ones. Alvarado ruled out acute appendicitis (at score<4) in 25 individuals of which 19 were false negative ones. Alvarado score (at score >8) correctly diagnosed in 19 individuals with zero false positive cases.

Description