The Role of Alvarado Score in Diagnosis of Acute Appendicitis in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Author(s): Anirudha Sardar, Asadullahil Galib, Md. Shahidul Islam, Dipayan Kumer Dhali, Palash Kumar Dey.

Background: Acute appendicitis is one of the most common abdominal emergencies encountered in surgical practice. The diagnosis of acute appendicitis is an enigmatic challenge. Several studies have reported a variable diagnostic accuracy with a negative appendectomy rate varying from 3% up to 20% using combined diagnostic modalities or using the Alvarado score alone.

Aim of the study: The present study was carried out to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of the combined use of the Alvarado score for preoperative diagnosis of acute appendicitis.

Methods: This hospital-based prospective study was conducted in the Department of Surgery at Khulna Medical College, Khulna, Bangladesh. The study was conducted from January 2022 to December 2022. A total of 67 patients were admitted to the surgical unit during the specified period with symptoms of acute appendicitis.

Result: This a prospective study; 67 patients were enrolled and analyzed. Every patient in the study had a complication of RIF tenderness. More than 70% of patients had complications like nausea/vomiting, pyrexia and leukocytosis. There were 66(98.51%) patients who had right iliac fossa pain and 40 (59.70%) patients who had anorexia.

Conclusion: Although the diagnosis of acute appendicitis remains mainly clinical evaluation, the scoring system is an easy, simple and cheap complementary aid for supporting the diagnosis of acute appendicitis.