Diagnostic outcome of suspected cases of acute appendicitis

الملخص EN

The aim of this study is to determine the diagnostic outcome of suspected cases of acute appendicitis in Aden Teaching Hospitals.

A prospective and descriptive study was performed at Aden Teaching Hospitals between June 2007 and May 2008.

The study included 209 patients, who had undergone appendicectomy with preoperative diagnosis of acute appendicitis.

We found that patients of appendicitis constituted 18.4% of the total admissions of the surgical emergencies.

The frequency of appendicectomy was 30.6% of the total emergency surgery conducted and 86.4% of those patients admitted with the provisional diagnosis of appendicitis.

The mean age was 20 years with a male to female ratio of 2.4 : I.

The diagnostic accuracy was 66.5%, negative appendicectomy 33.5% and the perforation rate was 28.1%.

The rate of negative exploration was higher among females than males (59% vs.

23%).

The histopathological examination of removed appendices revealed that 45.5% of the patients had suppurative appendicitis, 19.6%, had gangrenous appendicitis, 33.5% had normal appendices, and 1.4% patients of appendicitis had infestation with parasites.

In conclusion, the diagnostic accuracy rate in this study, that was 66.5% is lower than that in some Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Bahrain.

We believe that a high diagnostic accuracy could be reached by the increased interest in patients with acute appendicitis, better surgical training, and better senior supervision at Accident and Emergency Departments.