The use of clinician-performed ultrasonography to determine the treatment method for suspected paediatric appendicitis

Abstract

Objective: To investigate whether the clinician-performed ultrasonography based on the specific criteria for paediatric appendicitis could decrease the negative appendectomy rate without treatment failure. Methods: The study was a retrospective review of paediatric patients with suspected appendicitis who presented at the emergency department of a teaching hospital over a period of 18 months. The clinicians performed the ultrasound and decided whether the patients with suspected appendicitis should be referred to surgery or managed conservatively. The determinative ultrasound criteria were the presence of periappendiceal fat infiltration and/or an obstructing appendicolith. Results: The 166 paediatric patients with suspected appendicitis underwent ultrasonography performed by clinicians on weekdays; forty (24.1%) cases with an obstructing appendicolith and/or periappendiceal fat infiltration were treated surgically, and none had a pathologically negative appendectomy, which was significantly lower than the number in the computed tomography scan group (10.4%, 11/106) on weeknights or weekends. The remaining 126 (75.8%) patients without obstructing appendicolith or periappendiceal fat infiltration were treated conservatively, regardless of their appendiceal diameter, and no patients experienced a treatment failure. Conclusions: The clinician-performed ultrasonography bases on the strict use of above specific ultrasound criteria to determine treatment strategies for suspected paediatric appendicitis can reduce the negative appendectomies without treatment failure.