Affiliation:
1. Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Department of Pediatric Surgery
2. Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Department of Radiology and Radiodiagnosis
Abstract
Abstract
BackgroundUltrasound (US) is considered the preferred imaging tool to evaluate the surgical causes of acute abdominal pain.MethodsOur study aimed to reappraise the role of US in the evaluation of surgical causes of acute abdominal pain in pediatric patients by the identification and differentiation of its different pathologies.ResultsOur study included 120 pediatric patients who were presented to Elshatby University Hospital with acute abdominal pain due to a surgical cause from November 2019 to November 2020. The age of the studied patients ranged from five days to 18 years old. The study included 64 males (53.3%) and 56 females (46.6%). Appendicitis was the most common pathology among our studied patients being diagnosed in 40 patients (33.3%); it was correctly diagnosed by US in 36 patients and by Computerized Tomography (CT) in four patients. Other diagnosed pathologies included intussusception in 16 patients (13.3%), acute acalculous cholecystitis in eight patients (6.7%), midgut volvulus in eight patients (6.7%), renal stones in eight patients (6.7%), endometrioma in four patients (3.3%), pelvi-ureteric junction obstruction in four patients (3.3%), appendicular mass in four patients (3.3%), hemorrhagic cyst in eight patients (6.7%), ovarian torsion in eight patients (6.7%) and ureteric stones in 12 patients (10%). The overall sensitivity and specificity of US in the diagnosis of different pathologies in our study was 88.5% and 88.2% respectively with different percentage among different pathologies.ConclusionsUS is a reliable diagnostic imaging tool for the assessment of pediatric patients with acute abdomen due to surgical causes with high efficiency in differentiation between various pathological entities. Trial registration: Our manuscript has been retrospectively registered
Publisher
Research Square Platform LLC
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