The role of absolute neutrophil count as compared to computed tomography scan in the diagnosis of suspected acute appendicitis : a single academic institution experience

Abstract EN

The role of absolute neutrophil count as compared to computed tomography scan, in the diagnosis of suspected acute appendicitis was determined.

This is a retrospective study of 565 patients who underwent appendectomy in King Abdulaziz University Hospital from January 2010 till December 2012.

The patients were divided into three groups : Clinically diagnosed group ; patients who had computed tomography scan and absolute neutrophil count; and finally those who had only absolute neutrophil count.

Out of 565 patients, 60 (10.6 %) of them were diagnosed clinically and were found to have normal appendix.

In the 290 (51.4 %) patients that had computed tomography scan and absolute neutrophil count, the computed tomography scan showed 60 (21 %) patients to have normal appendix, while the absolute neutrophil count showed 54 (16 %) patients.

The computed tomography scan accurately diagnosed 213 (73.4 %) patients to have appendicitis with a sensitivity of 98.2 % and, specificity of 82.2 %.

In comparison, the absolute neutrophil count group showed 207 (71 %) patients to have appendicitis with sensitivity of 95.4 % and specificity of 74 %.

These results correlated well with each other.Absolute neutrophil count showed a significant impact on the diagnosis of acute appendicitis confirmed by histopathological findings and supported by computed tomography scan.