Establishment and Preliminary Application of Scoring System to Aid in Diagnosis of Acute Appendicitis in Children

Objective To establish a scoring system and to applicate it in the preoperative diagnosis of acute appendicitis in children. Methods Clinical data of 860 patients (from 2 years to 14 years old, average 8.2 years) who had undergone appendicectomy from Jan, 1998 to June, 2000 in our department were collected to identify attributes of distinguishing patients with pseudo appendicitis from those with acute appendicitis. The data was analysed by statistical methods. Results seven items criterions of diagnostic significance were confirmed ,then their value was scored by Baysian Probability and a cut-off point was abtained by using receiver-operator characteristic curve to establish a diagnosis scoring system. The scoring system was applicated prospectively to 107 patients hospitalized( from 3 years to 14 years old, average 7.8 years) from Sep, 2000 to Feb, 2001 and got a high sensitivity and specificity. Conclusions the scoing system established in this study could provide help in clinical diagnosis of acute appendicitis in children could reduce the rate of unnecessary emergency surgery.