RESEARCH ON DESCRIPTION OF ACUTE APPENDICITIS OF ULTRASONOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS

Abstract

Background: Acute appendicitis is one of the most common causes of lower abdominal pain leading patients to admit the emergency department. Besides those developed paraclinical tests, ultrasound is the priority to support the diagnosis. Objectives: To survey and update the ultrasonographic characteristics of acute appendicitis in diagnosis at Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study of 115 acute appendicitis patients diagnosed at Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital from December 2021 to July 2022, using SPSS 20 software to analyze data. Results: Among 115 patients that were diagnosed with acute appendicitis by ultrasound, the right iliac fossa was the most frequent location of the appendix (98.3%) and 1.7% of patients with acute appendicitis located behind the cecum. The direction signs suggested acute appendicitis on ultrasound were described by target sign and finger sign at 100%, appendiceal diameter >= 6mm at 97.4% and the average appendiceal length was 7cm ± 2cm. The indirection signs were fluid around the appendix (9.6%), fluid around right iliac fossa (4.3%), fecal stones in the appendix (8.7%), fluid in the appendix (16.5%), infiltrating around the appendix (74.8%) and lymph nodes response (7.8%). Conclusion: Our study updates data about acute appendicitis ultrasonographic image characteristic figures as well as a reference for clinical doctors to diagnose acute appendicitis by ultrasonography.