Radiological Correlation of Negative Appendectomies: A Clinical Audit

Introduction: Appendectomy is the most common surgical emergency and negative appendectomy is a one of recognized consequence of appendectomy. Recently an increased use of radiology is seen in diagnosing appendicitis and it has significantly decreased the rate of negative appendectomy. Every effort should be made to establish an exact diagnosis. If, however, this is impossible and a suspicion of appendicitis exists, exploration is mandatory. It is far better to subject a moderate number of patients to a theoretically unnecessary operation than to let one patient suffer perforation. Aim: Recently we have seen an increased use of radiology in our department for diagnosing appendicitis. The idea of conducting this audit was to calculate our negative appendectomy rate by correlating it with use of radiology and to compare it with international figures and to set up guidelines for use of radiology in diagnosing appendicitis on basis of results of our audit. Methods: Records of all patients who underwent appendectomy in Dubai Hospital, UAE from Jan 2018 to Jan 2019 were retrospectively analysed using electronic record system. Clinical diagnosis and radiological findings were compared with histopathology as gold standard for negative appendectomy rate. The sensitivity and specificity of different radiological procedures was calculated as well. Results: Total 165 patients underwent appendectomy in specified duration. Overall negative appendectomy rate was 17% with male being 9.7% and female rate 31%. CT scan was found to be 100% specific and 91.4% sensitive in diagnosing appendicitis while clinical diagnosis was accurate in 88.5% cases.