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 clinicalsuspicion 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 Toshibawith 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. Onthe basis of ultrasonography, 100 (66.7%) patients were labeled as positive for acute-appendicitis and 50 (33.3%) patientsas negative for acute-appendicitis. Out of 100 positive patients, 79% patients were confirmed as acute-appendicitis onhistopathology and 21% had normal appendix on histopathology. Out of 50 negative patients, 12 (24%) patients had rightureteric calculus and 6 (12%) patients had acute cholecystitis while 5 (10%) patients were explored later on becauseof 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 establishacute appendicitis or alternate diagnosis. It can be recommended as a valuable screening tool in clinically suspectedcases of acute-appendicitis. Key Words: Ultrasonography, acute appendicitis, histopathology. This article may be cited as: Ahmed F, Tahir M, Uddin QT, Khan EA, Tahir NB, Sardar S, et al. Ultrasonograghy: Agood aid to the clinical diagnosis of acute appendicitis. Khyber Med Univ J 2012; 4(4): 165-169.