The Value of Serum I-FABP Level in the Diagnosis of Acute Appendicitis

Acute appendicitis is one of the most common abdominal emergencies worldwide. Biomarkers and imaging are valuable adjuncts to history and examination. Differentiating complicated and uncomplicated appendicitis is essential. Our aim is to investigate whether serum I-FABP could be a suitable diagnostic biomarker in diagnosing acute appendicitis in which inflammation and ischemia play a role in the pathophysiology.

Sixty-six patients with histopathologically confirmed acute appendicitis were included in the study. Blood samples were taken from the patient and control groups to examine serum I-FABP, white blood cell (WBC) counts, C-reactive protein (CRP), and procalcitonin (PCT) levels.

Twenty-six patients (39.3%) had complicated appendicitis. When the patient and control groups were compared in terms of I-FABP, WBC, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio, (NLR) CRP, and PCT values, a significant difference was found in all biochemical parameters (p < 0.001). We compared the levels of patients with uncomplicated and complicated appendicitis in terms of serum I-FABP, WBC, NLR, CRP, and PCT levels and found that only the I-FABP level was significantly different (p < 0.001), and the diagnostic sensitivity was higher in patients with complicated appendicitis compared with uncomplicated patients (AUC; 0.89 for I-FABP, 0.55, 0.57, 0.61, and 0.59 for WBC, NLR, CRP, and PCT respectively).

I-FABP has no diagnostic advantage over WBC, CRP, and PCT to diagnose acute appendicitis. However, it is more sensitive than other biomarkers in differentiating complicated from uncomplicated appendicitis.