title: Comparing presentation and diagnostic accuracy for conscripts and nonconscripts who have already been selected for appendectomy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The evaluation of acute appendicitis (AA), the most common cause of acute abdomen, in conscripts is important, specifically when it seems that the probability of malingering for secondary gains (such as exemption) is high, and surgeons may lose some cases of AA through this assumption.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this analytic cross-sectional study, 455 male conscripts with suspected AA were compared with 142 male individuals between 14 and 26 years of age who had already been selected for appendectomy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age (+/-SE) was 20.4+/-0.08 years. There were no statistically significant differences between the case and control groups in terms of age, rates of different symptoms and signs, quality and duration of pain, vital signs, and laboratory findings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was no significant difference between conscripts and others in terms of the presentation of AA and its accurate diagnosis. Therefore, it is recommended that military physicians approach conscripts with suspected AA like other patients.
authors.affiliation: Trauma Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hassan Ali
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Mohebbi
authors.forename: Farzad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Panahi
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kabir
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000209:etiology; D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001062:Appendectomy; D001064:Appendicitis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D008887:Military Medicine; D008889:Military Personnel