Serum Direct Indirect and Total Bilirubin Level as a Diagnostic Marker of Acute Appendicitis and Appendicular Perforation: A Prospective Hospital Based Study

Background: Acute appendicitis is the most common disease in abdomen. Any delay in the diagnosis and initiation of treatment can lead to appendicular perforation which can lead to mortality. Materials And Methods: This prospective study was done in the department of General Surgery, Sree Mookambika Institute of Medical Sciences, Kulasekharam, Tamil Nadu. The study was done during the period of January 2023-December 2023. A total of 50 patients were admitted in the hospital with clinical diagnosis of acute appendicitis during the above mentioned period. All the patients were explained about study procedure and informed consent was obtained from them. Direct, Indirect and Total bilirubin levels were estimated and correlated clinically. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 20.0) version was used for analysis. Results: The study was included 50 patients. Maximum patients had age between 41-50 years. Males are more in number than females. Out of 50 patients 40 had acute appendicitis and 10 had appendicular perforation. 32 patients had more than 1.0 and 8 had less than 1.0 total bilirubin levels in acute appendicitis patients. Maximum number of patients had more than 1.0 total bilirubin in appendicular perforation. 36 in acute appendicitis and 8 in appendicular perforation had direct bilirubin more than 0.3 mg/dL. Maximum number of patients with acute appendicitis and appendicular perforation had indirect bilirubin less than 0.8 mg/dL. Conclusion: This study results concluded that serum bilirubin levels appear to be an important marker for diagnosing acute appendicitis and appendicular perforation.