title: Ultrasound of paediatric appendicitis and its secondary sonographic signs: providing a more meaningful finding.
abstract: Sonography is an important clinical tool in diagnosing appendicitis in children as it can obviate both exposure to potentially harmful ionising radiation from computed tomography scans and the need for unnecessary appendicectomies. This review examines the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound in the identification of acute appendicitis, with a particular focus on the the utility of secondary sonographic signs as an adjunct or corollary to traditionally examined criteria. These secondary signs can be important in cases where the appendix cannot be identified with ultrasound and a more meaningful finding may be made by incorporating the presence or absence of secondary sonographic signs. There is evidence that integrating these secondary signs into the final ultrasound diagnosis can improve the utility of ultrasound in cases where appendicitis is expected, though there remains some conjecture about whether they play a more important role in negative or positive prediction in the absence of an identifiable appendix.
authors.affiliation: Lady Cilento Children's Hospital Children's Health Queensland South Brisbane Qld Australia; School of Mathematics Science and Engineering Faculty Queensland University of Technology Brisbane Qld Australia; Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation Queensland University of Technology Kelvin Grove Qld Australia.
authors.forename: Tristan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Reddan
authors.affiliation: Lady Cilento Children's Hospital Children's Health Queensland South Brisbane Qld Australia.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Corness
authors.affiliation: School of Mathematics Science and Engineering Faculty Queensland University of Technology Brisbane Qld Australia; Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation Queensland University of Technology Kelvin Grove Qld Australia.
authors.forename: Kerrie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mengersen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation Queensland University of Technology Kelvin Grove Qld Australia; School of Clinical Sciences Faculty of Health Queensland University of Technology Brisbane Qld Australia.
authors.forename: Fiona
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Harden
mesh_terms: D001064:Appendicitis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Appendicitis; child; paediatrics; ultrasonography