Negative Appendectomy Rate in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Quetta: A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Acute appendicitis is the most common surgical pain requires surgical intervention in emergency. Diagnosis of acute appendicitis is mainly a clinical judgment but many clinical scoring systems and advance radiology is routinely used in developed countries. The aim is to reduce unnecessary removal of normal appendix, which is still very high up to 37% in some parts of the world. Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the Negative appendectomy rate (NAR) in a tertiary care hospital of Quetta. Method: This is a prospective observational study carried out between November 2020 and June 2021.121 cases of acute appendicitis that underwent surgical management. Results: The study data revealed a negative appendectomy rate of 59.5% Tenderness rebound tenderness and total leucocyte count (TLC) showed statistical significance with histopathology findings. Female had high negative rate of appendectomy. Conclusion: The study showed that on clinical judgment in diagnosis of acute appendicitis will result in high negative appendectomy rate, it is need of time to add radiology at least ultrasonography should be mandatory in every suspected case of appendicitis in our part of world and diagnostic laparoscopy in equivocal cases especially in female patients.