Comparison of Appendicitis Scoring Systems in Pediatric Patients

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Acute appendicitis is one of the most common causes of emergency department (ED) admission among pediatric patients, and the most common cause of abdominal pain requiring surgical intervention. The present study aimed to measure the success of three different appendicitis scoring systems in patients who were operated due to acute appendicitis (AA) upon presenting at the pediatric ED with acute abdominal pain. METHODS: The study included a total of 226 patients who were admitted to Pediatric Emergency Department and who underwent an appendectomy between December 2018 and May 2019. Through a retrospective review of patient files; age, gender, clinical findings, laboratory results, Pediatric Appendicitis Score (PAS), Lintula score, Acute Inflammatory Response (AIR) score, ultrasonography (USG) findings and pathology results of the patients operated due to AA were recorded. RESULTS: A total of 226 patients were included in the study, with a mean age of 11.6±3.66 (1-17) years, and 57.1% (n=129) of the patients were female and 42.9% (n=97) were male. The pathology results were evaluated under three categories: suppurative (phlegmonous) appendicitis, 74.3%; perforated appendix, 9.7%; and reactive lymphoid hyperplasia, 15.9%. The cut-off values >3 for AIR, >7 for PAS and >15 for Lintula were found statistically significant. Among the three scoring systems, Lintula had the highest sensitivity (91.5%) and PAS had the highest specificity (69.4%). DISCUSSION:Although scoring systems are used to diagnose AA, the selected cut-off values for the scoring systems have an effect on the results.. Patients with a PAS score of ≥7 were found to have more significant AA results. We believe that PAS is likely to be a preferred scoring system in pediatric patients, especially under busy ED conditions; however, further studies with larger populations are needed to develop scoring systems that will guide physicians to establish a final diagnosis.