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Does obesity limit the sonographic diagnosis of appendicitis in children?

Murat Yiğiter1, Mecit Kantarci, Onur Yalçin

  • 1Department of Pediatric Surgery, Ataturk University Faculty of Medicine, Erzurum 25240, Turkey.

Journal of Clinical Ultrasound : JCU
|April 12, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Obesity does not impact ultrasound visualization of the appendix in children with appendicitis. This study found no significant difference in appendix visualization rates across weight categories, suggesting ultrasound remains effective for diagnosing appendicitis regardless of BMI.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Radiology
  • Diagnostic Imaging
  • Gastrointestinal Health

Background:

  • Appendicitis is a common surgical emergency in children.
  • Ultrasound (US) is a primary imaging modality for diagnosing appendicitis.
  • Concerns exist regarding the impact of patient body mass index (BMI) on US image quality.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine if obesity negatively affects ultrasound visualization of the appendix in pediatric appendicitis cases.
  • To compare appendix visualization rates and diagnostic accuracy of US across different pediatric weight categories.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective review of 122 children with surgically confirmed appendicitis.
  • Categorization of children into underweight, normal weight, and overweight groups based on BMI percentiles.
  • Analysis of US findings (nonvisualized, normal, inflamed appendix) and comparison of visualization rates and diagnostic accuracy between groups.

Main Results:

  • No statistically significant difference in appendix visualization rates was observed between underweight, normal weight, and overweight children.
  • Ultrasound diagnostic accuracy was high across all groups: 90.4% (underweight), 80.5% (normal weight), and 80% (overweight).

Conclusions:

  • Obesity does not hinder the successful ultrasound visualization of the inflamed appendix in children.
  • Ultrasound remains a reliable tool for diagnosing appendicitis in pediatric patients, irrespective of their BMI.
Abstract

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