Evaluation of scoring systems in predicting acute appendicitis in children

Acute appendicitis can be difficult to diagnose, especially in children. Appendicitis scoring systems have been developed as a diagnostic tool to improve the decision-making process in patients with suspected acute appendicitis. This study evaluates the Appendicitis Inflammatory Response score, Alvarado score, and Pediatric Appendicitis Score in children suspected of acute appendicitis.

Data were collected retrospectively. All children younger than 18 years suspected of acute appendicitis who presented to the emergency department between January 2006 and June 2014 were included in this study. Variables were registered to evaluate 3 different appendicitis scoring systems. The diagnostic performance of the 3 scores was analyzed using the area under the receiver-operating curve and by calculating the diagnostic performances at different cut-off points.

The present study included 747 consecutive children. There were 399 boys (53%) and 348 girls (47%) with a mean age of 11 years (range, 1-17 years). In total, 269 children (36%) were diagnosed with acute appendicitis. The area under the receiver-operating curve of the Appendicitis Inflammatory Response score was 0.90, the Alvarado score was 0.87, and the Pediatric Appendicitis Score was 0.82 (P < .05, respectively). The specificity and positive predictive value of the Appendicitis Inflammatory Response score were better at predicting an acute appendicitis than that of the Alvarado score and Pediatric Appendicitis Score. In children with a low-risk acute appendicitis, false negative rates of 14% for the Appendicitis Inflammatory Response, 7% for the Alvarado, and 18% for the Pediatric Appendicitis Score were measured.

In this study, the Appendicitis Inflammatory Response score had the highest discriminating power and outperformed the Alvarado score and Pediatric Appendicitis Score in predicting acute appendicitis in children. Excluding acute appendicitis safely in children with the scoring systems still remains uncertain.