Oxidative stress in diagnosis of acute appendicitis patients

Abstract

The most common acute surgical infection seen in emergency department is acute appendicitis (AA). Although many advances in diagnostic system, the diagnosis of AA is not always straight forward. Early diagnosis of AA is important for reducing morbidity rates. The objective of the current study was to investigate the value of oxidative stress in the accuracy of preoperative AA diagnosis. A total of thirty consecutive patients with histopathologically confirmed AA were retrospectively included in the study. Thirty volunteers were included as control group. Serum antioxidative status was evaluated by measuring total antioxidant status (TAS) levels in patients with AA and in healthy individuals. Serum oxidative status was evaluated by measuring total oxidant status (TOS). Then also oxidative stress index (OSI) was calculated. The male/female ratio of patients was 22/8. Mean age: 31.83±1.06. TOS and OSI levels increased in patient group compared to control group (respectively, 22.71±24.82 μmol H2O2 equivalent/L vs 8.34±2.26μmol H2O2 equivalent/L, p = 0.003; 1.05±1.10 arbitrary unit vs 0.40±0.09 arbitrary unit, p = 0.002). But there were no differences in TAS levels of both groups, p>0.05. Oxidative stress parameters beside other diagnostic tools should be considered as a diagnostic marker in AA. Key words: Acute appendicitis, diagnosis, oxidative stress, total oxidant status, total antioxidant status.