PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Alshebromi, Mawiah H.
AU  - Alsaigh, Sultan H.
AU  - Aldhubayb, Majed A.
TI  - Sensitivity and specificity of computed tomography and ultrasound for the prediction of acute appendicitis at King Fahad Specialist Hospital in Buraidah, Saudi Arabia
AID  - 10.15537/smj.2019.5.23777
DP  - 2019 May 01
TA  - Saudi Medical Journal
PG  - 458--462
VI  - 40
IP  - 5
4099  - http://smj.org.sa/content/40/5/458.short
4100  - http://smj.org.sa/content/40/5/458.full
SO  - Saudi Med J2019 May 01; 40
AB  - Objectives: To determine the sensitivity and specificity of computed tomography (CT) and ultrasound (US) in predicting acute appendicitis in relation to histopathology reports at King Fahad Specialist Hospital in Buraidah, Saudi Arabia.Methods: A retrospective cohort study included 500 medical records of patients diagnosed with acute appendicitis upon admission to King Fahad Specialist Hospital, Buraidah, Saudi Arabia, between January 2015 and January 2017.Results: Of the 200 patients, 187 (93.5%) were diagnosed with acute appendicitis by histopathology. Of these 187 patients, 57 (30.5%) underwent CT and 54 (29%) underwent US. Computed tomography correctly identified 86.0% of the patients as having acute appendicitis and incorrectly identified 14% as not having acute appendicitis. Similarly, US correctly identified 37% of the patients as having acute appendicitis, while the remaining 63% were incorrectly identified as not having acute appendicitis. Thirteen patients (6.5%) did not have acute appendicitis (confirmed by histology report). Six (46.15%) of these 13 patients underwent CT. Five of these 6 (83.3%) were incorrectly diagnosed with acute appendicitis by CT, whereas one of the 6 (16.7%) was identified as a true negative. On the other hand, US correctly identified 100% of the 13 patients as true negative.Conclusion: Computed tomography was shown to have sensitivity 86% and a specificity of 16.7% for the diagnosis of acute appendicitis. On the other hand, US had a sensitivity of 37% and a specificity of 100%. Therefore, we conclude that if imaging needed to confirm the diagnosis of appendicitis, CT is the choice. Ultrasound can be used only to exclude gynecological disorders.