Pediatric appendicitis

BACKGROUND: Children from racial and ethnic minority groups have higher prevalence of perforated appendicitis, and the COVID-19 pandemic worsened racial and ethnic health-related disparities. We hypothesized that the incidence of perforated appendicitis worsened for children from racial and ethnic minorities during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study of the Pediatric Health Information System for children ages 2-18y undergoing appendectomy pre-pandemic (3/19/2019-3/18/2020) and intra-pandemic (3/19/2020-3/30/2021)...

OBJECTIVE:  To describe our technique and share our experience with image-guided transrectal drainage (TRD) of pelvic abscesses in children. MATERIALS AND METHODS:  Retrospective review and analysis of indications for image-guided TRD and examination of procedural outcomes in pediatric patients with pelvic abscesses over 8 years. RESULTS:  A total of 69 patients (33 males and 36 females) with symptomatic pelvic abscesses underwent image-guided TRD...

PURPOSE: Transumbilical laparoscopic-assisted surgery (TULS) mixed benefits of laparoscopic and open surgeries. Transumbilical laparoscopic-assisted appendectomy (TULAA) is a well-known procedure, accepted and currently used by pediatric surgeons for treatment of uncomplicated appendicitis (UA). There is no current agreement in its use for the complicated appendiceal infections (CA). We reported our results using TULAA for both UA and CA. METHODS: We retrospectively collected TULAA performed between April 2017 and April 2022...

BACKGROUND: The importance of offering on-site cardiac troponin (cTn) testing at pediatric hospitals may be underappreciated. We developed a rapid rule-in process for myocardial injury at a pediatric hospital experiencing delays in off-site high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) testing. METHODS: Collect-to-verify turnaround times (TATs) for off-site testing were reviewed. Pre-analytic changes to improve TATs were devised, implemented and evaluated, after which a new analyzer was selected and evaluated for on-site cTn testing...

INTRODUCTION:  Artificial intelligence (AI) is a growing field in medical research that could potentially help in the challenging diagnosis of acute appendicitis (AA) in children. However, usefulness of AI in clinical settings remains unclear. Our aim was to assess the accuracy of AIs in the diagnosis of AA in the pediatric population through a systematic literature review. METHODS:  PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science were searched using the following keywords: "pediatric," "artificial intelligence," "standard practices," and "appendicitis," up to September 2023...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Multiseptated gallbladder also known as "Honeycomb gallbladder" is a rare condition that was first described by Tandon in 1963. It is described as a congenital anomaly in most of the cases. It may be asymptomatic or may lead symptoms. We present the case of a multiseptate gallbladder in a 5 year old girl who was admitted for managament of acute appendicitis.

BACKGROUND: Appendicitis is one of the most common causes of acute abdominal pain and remains the most common abdominal-related emergency seen in emergency room that needs urgent surgery (Yang et al. in J Emerg Med 43:980-2, 2012. 10.1016/j.jemermed.2010.11.056, Wickramasinghe et al. in World J Surg 45:1999-2008, 2021. 10.1007/s00268-021-06077-5). The characteristic presentation is a vague epigastric or periumbilical discomfort or pain that migrates to the lower right quadrant in 50% of cases...

MRI is increasingly used as an alternate test to CT for the evaluation of suspected appendicitis in pediatric patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with abdominal pain, when further imaging is needed after an initial ultrasound. The available literature shows similar diagnostic performance of MRI and CT in this setting. At the authors' institution, MRI to evaluate for appendicitis in children in the ED is performed using a rapid three-sequence free-breathing protocol without IV contrast media...

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE: Acute appendicitis is a common surgical emergency, often resulting in perforation and increased morbidity. Up to 55 % of children with complicated appendicitis may experience a complication such as infection, bowel obstruction, or unplanned hospital re-admission (Blakely et al., 2011 [23]). However, the development of infectious spondylodiscitis following appendectomy is an extremely rare complication, particularly in pediatric patients. We present the first reported case of lumbar spondylodiscitis occurring post-perforated appendicitis in a 14-year-old female, highlighting the importance of recognizing and managing uncommon complications...

PURPOSE: While regarded as a secondary sign of pediatric appendicitis, the frequency of physiologic intra-abdominal fluid in children with suspected but absent appendicitis is unknown. Ex vivo: to assess the validity of US/MRI measurements of free fluid. In vivo: in suspected pediatric appendicitis, to assess the amount of abdominal fluid by US and MRI, determine performance characteristics of US in fluid detection and identify fluid volume ranges in confirmed appendicitis. METHODS: Ex vivo: criterion validity of US and MRI for fluid volume measurements was tested using tissue-mimicking phantoms filled with different volumes of distilled water...

BACKGROUND: Diarrhea is the second leading cause of morbidity and mortality for under-five children which cause about 525,000 deaths annually. Even though diarrheal diseases have decreased substantially at the global level, low-income countries are still faced with a huge number of diarrheal diseases. Thus, our aim was to assess the child feeding practices during diarrheal diseases and associated factors among children aged 6 to 23 months in Sub-Saharan African countries using the recent demographic and health survey...

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the accuracy of cell ratios in the diagnosis of pediatric acute appendicitis while introducing a new one -the derived neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (dNLR). MATERIALS AND METHODS: An observational, retrospective study of patients aged 0-15 years old diagnosed with acute appendicitis (AA) and with non-surgical abdominal pain (AP) treated in our institution from 2021 to 2022 was carried out. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and dNLR were compared between groups...

OBJECTIVE: Acute appendicitis (AA) is the most frequent urgent surgical pathology in the pediatric population, but postoperative management is variable, with protocols minimizing variability. We present our results following the optimization of the management protocol in our institution in order to establish its efficacy in terms of number of infectious complications and optimization of resources in our environment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An observational, retrospective study of patients undergoing AA surgery from January 2018 to August 2022 was carried out...

The simultaneous occurrence of intestinal ascariasis and appendicitis presents a challenge in diagnosing pediatric abdominal emergencies due to overlapping symptoms. We present the case of an 8-year-old boy who experienced acute abdominal pain, characterized by a severe cramp in the mid and lower right abdomen, with pain rated 7 out of 10, a mild fever, and continuous nausea. The initial evaluation suggested appendicitis, supported by an Alvarado score of 9. However, ultrasonography did not conclusively confirm appendicitis but revealed an Ascaris worm in the ileum...

The appendix is a small, finger-sized tubular pouch that extends from your large intestine. Regardless, the physiology of the appendix is still unclear. There are several factors that cause appendicitis, such as infection, underlying tumor, constipation, and trauma. Symptoms of right lower quadrant abdominal pain, nausea, anorexia, and fever, as well as physical signs such as rebound tenderness and McBurney point/sign, are typical of non-traumatic acute appendicitis. On the other hand, a thorough history and physical examination are paramount for an accurate diagnosis of acute traumatic appendicitis...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Non-operative management (NOM) of simple appendicitis is becoming an increasingly researched treatment option. This systematic review aims to describe the short and long-term failure rates of NOM and the complication rate of appendicectomy in children with simple appendicitis. METHODS: The systematic review was registered a priori (CRD42022322149). Study inclusion criteria are: participants aged ≤ 18 years of age; groups undergoing both NOM and appendicectomy for simple appendicitis; outcomes including one or more of: NOM failure rate at 30 days or 1 year and beyond; study design: RCT or case control study...

Opioid-related fatalities are a leading cause of accidental death in the United States. Appendicitis is a common cause of abdominal pain in children and adolescents. The management of pain throughout the laparoscopic appendectomy (LA) in the pediatric population is a critical concern. This study aimed to evaluate trends in analgesic use and patient satisfaction following LA, with a focus on reducing the reliance on opioids for pain management. From 2003 to 2023, 18258 articles were filtered for all types of analgesic use with LA...

UNLABELLED: Accurate diagnosis of paediatric appendicitis remains a challenge due to its diverse clinical presentations and reliance on subjective assessments. The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) with an expert's ''clinical sense'' has the potential to improve diagnostic accuracy. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Artificial Intelligence Pediatric Appendicitis Decision-tree (AiPAD) model in enhancing the diagnostic capabilities of trainees and compare their performance with that of an expert supervisor...