Keywords:
Emergency, Abdomen, Ultrasound, Ultrasound-Colour Doppler, Ultrasound-Power Doppler, Image compression, Surgery, Inflammation, Infection, Acute
Authors:
N. Kokhanovsky, A.-R. Zeina, N. Reindorp, A. Levit-Kantor, Y. Glick, A. Nachtigal; Hadera/IL
DOI:
10.1594/ecr2013/B-0129
Purpose
Acute appendicitis is the most frequently suspected acute abdominal disorder in the Emergency Department and the most common indication for emergency abdominal surgery [1].
Clinical evaluation of acute appendicitis is difficult in pregnant patients: signs and symptoms may be obscured and the appendix may be displaced by the gravid uterus (so that pain and tenderness may not be prominent in the right lower quadrant).
In this population,
history and clinical finding of acute appendicitis are not classic and may be confused with a non-surgical disease [2-3].
Radiologic imaging in pregnant women suspected of having acute appendicitis is limited because of the potentially dangerous effects of radiation.
The delayed diagnosis of acute appendicitis can carry serious consequences: perforation,
abscess formation,
peritonitis,
sepsis,
bowel obstruction,
and death have been reported [1].
The ideal diagnostic test should be swift,
noninvasive,
highly accurate,
and readily available [4-5].
Ultrasonography remains the initial imaging study of choice in the evaluation of the pregnant woman with an acute abdomen.
The primary imaging technique over the past decade for evaluating pregnant patients with suspected appendicitis has been graded-compression ultrasonography.
This technique is accurate,
noninvasive and readily available,
and does not use ionizing radiation [5-6].
The purpose of our study was to assess the reliability and value of sonographic examinations in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis in pregnant women.