Making the diagnosis of acute appendicitis: do more preoperative CT scans mean fewer negative appendectomies? A 10-year study.
PURPOSE: To determine the frequency of preoperative computed tomography (CT) in the evaluation of patients suspected of having appendicitis at one institution during the past 10 years and to determine whether changes in CT utilization were associated with changes in the negative appendectomy rate. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Institutional review board approval was obtained, and a waiver of informed consent was granted for this HIPAA-compliant study. A surgical database search yielded medical record numbers of 925 patients (526 [ 56.9%] men and 399 [43.1%] women; mean age, 38 years (range, 18-95 years]) who underwent urgent appendectomy between January 1998 and September 2007. Patients who were younger than 18 years of age at the time of surgery were excluded. CT, pathology, and surgery reports were reviewed. By using logistic regression, changes in the proportion of patients undergoing CT and in the proportion of patients undergoing each year appendectomy in which the appendix was healthy were evaluated. Subgroup analyses based on patient age (
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Related Subject Headings
- Tomography, X-Ray Computed
- Preoperative Care
- Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
- Middle Aged
- Male
- Logistic Models
- Humans
- Female
- False Positive Reactions
- False Negative Reactions
Citation
Published In
DOI
EISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Issue
Start / End Page
Location
Related Subject Headings
- Tomography, X-Ray Computed
- Preoperative Care
- Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
- Middle Aged
- Male
- Logistic Models
- Humans
- Female
- False Positive Reactions
- False Negative Reactions