The Role of Serum Inflammatory Markers in Acute Appendicitis and Their Success in Preventing Negative Laparotomy

Improving the diagnosis of acute appendicitis in order to prevent unnecessary surgery is crucial. This study was intended to identify the role of serum inflammatory markers in patients with preliminary diagnosis of acute appendicitis with a retrospective design. Eighty-five patients with the preliminary diagnosis of acute appendicitis were recruited in this study within the period of November–December 2003. The avarage age was 31.8 years (ranged from 15 to 85). There were 62 males (72.9%) and 23 females (27.1%). In addition to performing routine tests, preoperative serum samples were obtained from the patients to measure C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, and interleukin-10. All the patients were operated on for a clinical suspicion of acute appendicitis. Depending on the macroscopic evidence during the operation and the histopathological examination of the specimen, the patients were separated into two groups: the ones who did not have acute appendicitis as the cause for acute abdomen (group I; n = 14) a...