title: [Sonography in the diagnosis of appendicitis--a prospective study].
abstract: In a prospective study the significance of ultrasonography in the diagnosis of appendicitis was evaluated. On 104 patients--57 women and 47 men between the ages of 5 and 88 years--with a preliminary diagnosis of acute appendicitis, ultrasonography was performed using a graded compression technique with small curved-array transducers following physical examination. In 32 of 36 patients with operatively confirmed appendicitis the inflamed appendix could be visualized clearly. All 6 perityphlitic abscesses and 4 of 5 perforations were detected correctly by ultrasonography. In 18 patients the use of sonography led to important differential diagnoses other than appendicitis, which in 4 cases required surgery. By direct visualization of the inflamed appendix and its periappendicidal complications the clinical diagnosis of acute appendicitis can be improved. As a result of sonographic detection or exclusion of other diseases, ultrasonography facilitates the--often difficult--clinical differential diagnosis of right lower abdominal pain.
authors.affiliation: Medizinische Klinik, Kreiskrankenhaus Reutlingen, Akademisches Lehrkrankenhaus der Universität Tübingen.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Blank
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Braun
mesh_terms: D000038:Abscess / Q000175:diagnosis; D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001064:Appendicitis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D001065:Appendix / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007416:Intestinal Perforation / Q000175:diagnosis; D008875:Middle Aged; D012422:Rupture, Spontaneous; D014463:Ultrasonography
vernacular_title: Die Sonographie in der Diagnostik der Appendizitis--eine prospektive Untersuchung.