ACCURACY OF ULTRASONOGRAPHY IN DIAGNOSIS OF ACUTE APPENDICITIS; RESULTS OF A CROSS-SECTIONAL SURVEY AT TWO CENTRES

Objective: To determine the accuracy of ultrasonography in diagnosing acute appendicitis (AA) by taking histopathology as gold standard.Study Design: A cross-sectional validation study.Place and Duration of Study. Departments of surgery and radiology, Combined Military Hospitals of Multan and Quetta, from Apr 2014 to Apr 2016.Material and Methods: Ultrasonography of 200 consecutive patients fulfilling the diagnostic criteria on Modified Alvarado Scoring System for the clinical diagnosis of AA was done and the results were entered in proformas. Each patient underwent appendicectomy and appendices in all cases were sent for histopathological examination. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and accuracy were calculated through Med Calc.Results: Out of 200 patients, 132 were males and 68 were females. The most common age group was 11-30 years. The sensitivity of ultrasonography for AA was 61.43%, with a specificity of 76.67%, PPV of 86%, NPV of 46%, and an accuracy rate of 66%.Conclusion: With sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy rate of 61.4%, 76.7%, and 66% respectively, ultrasono-graphy is justified as an appropriate diagnostic tool in suspected cases of AA to avoid undue surgical interventions.