The Alvarado score demonstrated high specificity and low sensitivity for diagnosing acute appendicitis, suggesting it should be used to exclude true negatives rather than as an admission criterion.
Observational (n=96)
Does the Alvarado score accurately diagnose acute appendicitis compared to intraoperative and histopathological findings in patients with right iliac fossa pain?
The Alvarado score has high specificity but low sensitivity for acute appendicitis and should be used to exclude true negatives after clinical admission rather than as an admission criterion.
Appendicitis is an important differential diagnosis in patients with right iliac fossa pain. Diagnosis in patients with equivocal signs can be difficult. We studied 96 consecutive patients admitted and operated with the impression of acute appendicitis, purely on a clinical basis. A pre-operative Alvarado score was done in all patients and compared with intraoperative and histopathological findings. We found that the Alvarado score had high specificity and low sensitivity which also varied with age, sex and time since onset of symptoms. From our study we concluded that this score should not be used as an admission criterion but it should be used to exclude true negatives after admission on clinical basis. Besides, regression analysis revealed that tenderness in the right iliac fossa and migration of pain were most important and anorexia was the least important parameter.
A Mon, study conducted a observational in Acute appendicitis (n=96). Alvarado score vs. Intraoperative and histopathological findings was evaluated on Diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity and specificity) compared to intraoperative and histopathological findings. The Alvarado score demonstrated high specificity and low sensitivity for diagnosing acute appendicitis, suggesting it should be used to exclude true negatives rather than as an admission criterion.