ULTRASONOGRAPHY IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF ACUTE APPENDICITIS

The purpose of this study was to assess our results of using graded co mpression ultrasonography (US) to confirm the diagnosis of acute appen dicitis. Graded compression US was performed on 94 patients who presen ted at the Lehigh Valley Hospital, Allentown, Pennsylvania with an equ ivocal clinical picture of acute appendicitis. When used to diagnose a cute appendicitis, US provided a specificity of 93.7%, sensitivity of 74.2%, and accuracy of 87.2%. We conclude that graded compression US w as useful to rule out the diagnosis of acute appendicitis and helped t o avoid unnecessary appendectomies and reduced negative laparotomies. Our results proved to be comparable to previously reported studies.