title: Childhood appendicitis. A clinical profile.
abstract: A study to assess the reliability of clinical symptoms and signs in 50 patients with a presumptive diagnosis of acute appendicitis is presented. The male to female ratio was 3: 2, with age ranging from 2 to 15 years. Abdominal pain was present in 42; tenderness was localized in 35, generalized in 11 and diffuse in 4 patients. Total leucocyte count was above 11,000/cu mm in 31, below 11,000/cu mm in 17 and above 18,000/cu mm in 2. Of the 48 operated patients, 8 had normal appendices and the diagnosis in them was Meckel's diverticulitis 3, ruptured ovarian follicle 2, mesenteric adenitis 2, and salpingo-oophoritis 1. Abdominal pain and right iliac fossa tenderness with contributory investigations are the most reliable indicators of acute appendicitis with a false positive rate of 16.66% only.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Government Medical College, Srinagar, J & K, India.
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Pandit
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kaul
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Habib
authors.forename: H U
authors.initials: HU
authors.lastname: Zarger
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000209:etiology; D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D001064:Appendicitis / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007432:Intraoperative Period; D008297:Male