ULTRASONOGRAGHY: A GOOD AID TO THE CLINICAL DIAGNOSIS OF ACUTE APPENDICITIS

Objective: to evaluate the value of ultrasonography in the diagnosis of acute-appendicitis, in clinically suspected cases.Methodology: This prospective observational study was carried out at DHQ Teaching hospital, Khyber Medical University,Institute of Medical Sciences Kohat, Pakistan from Feb-2009 to Nov-2011. This study included 150 patients with a clinical suspicion of acute-appendicitis. The ultrasound findings were compared with histopathological outcome of the case,which was taken as gold standard. In the radiology department, color Doppler ultra sound machine, Accucie Toshiba with a 7.5 MHz, abdominal probe was used. All the exams were performed by a single senior radiologist.Results: Out of 150 patients, 112 (74.7%) were male and 38 (25.3%) were female. Age ranged from 12 to 60 years. On the basis of ultrasonography, 100 (66.7%) patients were labeled as positive for acute-appendicitis and 50 (33.3%) patients as negative for acute-appendicitis. Out of 100 positive patients, 79% patients were confirmed as acute-appendicitis on histopathology and 21% had normal appendix on histopathology. Out of 50 negative patients, 12 (24%) patients had right ureteric calculus and 6 (12%) patients had acute cholecystitis while 5 (10%) patients were explored later on because of persistent pain and progressing symptoms and a diagnosis of acute-appendicitis was confirmed on histopathology.Conclusion: In clinically suspected cases of pain right iliac fossa, the use of ultrasonography is valuable to establish acute appendicitis or alternate diagnosis. It can be recommended as a valuable screening tool in clinically suspected cases of acute-appendicitis.