Standardized reporting of appendicitis-related findings improves reliability of ultrasound in diagnosing appendicitis in children.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-1-2018

Identifier

DOI: 10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2018.02.028

Abstract

Purpose: Our objective was to increase ultrasound reliability for diagnosing appendicitis in an academic children's hospital emergency department (ED) through a multidisciplinary quality improvement initiative.

Methods: A retrospective review of ultrasound use in patients diagnosed with appendicitis in our ED from 1/1/2011 to 6/30/2014 established a baseline cohort. From 8/1/2014 to 7/31/2015 a diagnostic algorithm that prioritized ultrasound over CT was used in our ED, and a standardized template was implemented for the reporting of appendicitis-related ultrasound findings by our radiologists.

Results: Of 627 patients diagnosed with appendicitis in the ED during the retrospective review, 46.1% (n=289) had an ultrasound. After implementation of the diagnostic algorithm and standardized ultrasound report, 88.4% (n=236) of 267 patients diagnosed with appendicitis had an ultrasound (p

Conclusions: Ultrasound reliability for the diagnosis of appendicitis in children can be improved through standardized results reporting. However, these changes should be made as part of a multidisciplinary quality improvement initiative to account for the initial learning curve necessary to increase experience.

Level of evidence: Level II, Study of Diagnostic Test.

Journal Title

Journal of pediatric surgery

Volume

53

Issue

5

First Page

984

Last Page

987

MeSH Keywords

Algorithms; Appendicitis; Child; Clinical Protocols; Emergency Service, Hospital; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Male; Prospective Studies; Quality Improvement; Reproducibility of Results; Retrospective Studies; Sensitivity and Specificity; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Ultrasonography

Keywords

Appendicitis; Children; Pediatric surgery; Ultrasound

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