title: Accuracy of surgeon-performed gallbladder ultrasound in identification of acute cholecystitis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Acute cholecystitis is a common cause of emergency hospital admission. Ultrasonography (US) plays a significant role in the prompt diagnosis of this medical condition. However, it is difficult to find a radiologist in attendance for performing gallbladder US "beyond daytime and on weekends." With this standpoint, we decided to assess prospectively the accuracy of surgeon-performed gallbladder US for identifying acute cholecystitis in patients with cholelithiasis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy-one consecutive patients awaiting elective or acute gallbladder surgery were included in this study. The US findings of surgeons and radiologists are compared with the histopathology reports. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, PPV (positive predictive value), and NPV (negative predictive value) for acute cholecystitis by both surgeon-performed ultrasound (SPUS) and radiologist-performed ultrasound (RPUS) were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both radiologists and surgeons visualized the gallstones of each patient in all cases. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and NPV for acute cholecystitis by SPUS were 84.2%, 92.1%, 90%, and 94%, respectively, whereas the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and NPV for acute cholecystitis by RPUS were 92.3%, 85.9%, 87.1%, and 98%, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both SPUS and RPUS had a high accuracy rate in electing the acute cholecystitis. Our data support the fact that the use of US by general surgeons is effective in the diagnosis of acute cholecystitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Adana Numune Training and Research Hospital, Adana, Turkey. oktaytip@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Oktay
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Irkorucu
authors.forename: Enver
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Reyhan
authors.forename: Hasan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Erdem
authors.forename: Süleyman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cetinkünar
authors.forename: Kamuran Cumhur
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Değer
authors.forename: Cengiz
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yılmaz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D041881:Cholecystitis, Acute / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D005260:Female; D005704:Gallbladder / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D042882:Gallstones / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D013502:General Surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011871:Radiology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014463:Ultrasonography