[Ultrasonic diagnosis of acute appendicitis]

The ranking of sonography in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis and its complications was examined in 208 patients in a prospective study. With a prevalence of the disease of 31.25% the sensitivity of sonography was 91.5, and the specificity more than 96% with a low negative laparotomy rate of 12.9%. Since due to increasing experience in the techniques of examination and also due to technological improvements the normal appendix or concomitant appendicitis in enteritic disease patterns become visualisable, the sonographically determined appendix pattern is an important parameter. Sonography contributes to a reduction of the negative laparotomy rate due to the identification of differential diagnostically important diseases including lymphadenitis mesenterialis and Crohn's disease of the terminal ileum. At the same time, this method safely identifies perityphlitic abscesses and perforations of the appendix.