THE VALUE OF ULTRASOUND IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF ACUTE APPENDICITIS
Abdulrahman Meccawi and Mohammed Al-Harbi
Department of Surgery, King Abdul Aziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the accuracy of high-resolution real time ultrasound in diagnosing acute appendicitis.
METHOD: thirty-four consecutive patients admitted with clinical diagnosis of acute appendicitis underwent abdominal ultrasound. The diagnostic accuracy of the ultrasound was studied and compared with W.B.C and ESR.
RESULTS: Ultrasound was found to be easily obtainable and reliable with better specificity and sensitivity than W.B.C and ESR.
CONCLUSION: Ultrasonography is an important diagnostic tool that can help in the diagnostic dilemma of acute appendicitis.
December 2005