Background: Ultrasound is a widely used technique in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis; nevertheless, its utilization still remains controversial. Methods: The accuracy of the Ultrasound technique in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis in the adult patient, as shown in the literature, was searched for. Results: The gold standard for the diagnosis of appendicitis still remains pathologic confirmation after appendectomy. In the published literature, graded-compression Ultrasound has shown an extremely variable diagnostic accuracy in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis (sensitivity range from 44% to 100%; specificity range from 47% to 99%). This is due to many reasons, including lack of operator skill, increased bowel gas content, obesity, anatomic variants, and limitations to explore patients with previuos laparotomies. Conclusions: Graded-compression Ultrasound still remains our first-line method in patients referred with clinically suspected acute appendicitis: nevertheless, due to variable diagnostic accuracy, individual skill is requested not only to perform a successful exam, but also in order to triage those equivocal cases that, subsequently, will have to undergo assessment by means of Computed Tomography. © 2013 Pinto et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
CITATION STYLE
Pinto, F., Pinto, A., Russo, A., Coppolino, F., Bracale, R., Fonio, P., … Giganti, M. (2013). Accuracy of ultrasonography in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis in adult patients: Review of the literature. Critical Ultrasound Journal, 5(SUPPL.1), 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1186/2036-7902-5-S1-S2
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