Assessment of diagnostic value of ultrasound and multi-slice spiral computed tomography in acute appendicitis: a retrospective study.

PURPOSE

Ultrasound and multi-slice spiral computed tomography (CT) are frequently used to assist the diagnosis of acute appendicitis (AA), and the examination results may vary among different demographics. This study aimed to compare the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound and CT for AA.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective analysis of patients diagnosed with AA who underwent emergency surgery at our hospital from March 2021 to August 2023, with postoperative pathological results as the gold standard. Differences in the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound and CT for different types of AA, age groups, and body mass index (BMI) values were then analyzed.

RESULTS

The overall sample comprised 279 confirmed cases of AA, with 64 cases of simple appendicitis, 127 cases of suppurative appendicitis, and 88 cases of gangrenous appendicitis. For these three pathological classifications, the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound was 68.75% (44/64), 73.22% (93/127), and 81.81% (72/88), respectively, while the diagnostic accuracy of CT was 71.87% (46/64), 82.67% (105/127), and 90.90% (80/88), respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in the overall diagnostic accuracy between the two methods (P > 0.05). Subgroup analysis showed no difference in diagnostic accuracy between the two methods for patients with normal BMI (P > 0.05). However, for overweight, obese, and elderly patients, CT provided significantly better diagnostic accuracy than ultrasound (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

While ultrasound and CT have similar diagnostic accuracy for different pathological types of AA, CT is more accurate for overweight, obese, and elderly patients.