Wei Hao Lee1, Sharon O'Brien1, Dmitry Skarin1, John A Cheek2,3,4, Jessica Deitch5, Ramesh Nataraja6,7, Simon Craig4,5,8, Meredith L Borland1,9. 1. Emergency Department, Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Perth, Western Australia, Australia. 2. Emergency Department, Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. 3. The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. 4. Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. 5. Department of Medicine, Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. 6. Department of Paediatric Surgery, Monash Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. 7. Department of Paediatrics, Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. 8. Paediatric Emergency Department, Monash Medical Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. 9. Divisions of Emergency Medicine and Paediatrics, School of Medicine, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Abdominal pain is a common paediatric presentation to the ED. Accurate diagnosis of acute appendicitis is challenging, with the best-performing clinical scoring systems having sensitivities between 72% and 100%. The aim of this study is to assess the diagnostic accuracy of clinician gestalt according to seniority in diagnosing paediatric acute appendicitis in ED. METHODS: This is a prospective multi-centre observational study of clinician's prediction of appendicitis in children under the age of 16 years presenting to four EDs with abdominal pain over a 1 month period at each site. Clinician-estimated likelihood of acute appendicitis was compared with the final diagnosis determined by histopathology or operative findings and supplemented by telephone follow up for those without an operation. The primary outcome was diagnostic accuracy of clinician gestalt according to clinician seniority in diagnosing appendicitis. RESULTS: There were 381 children enrolled with completed clinician questionnaires, and 224 children had complete follow up or underwent appendicectomy. The median age was 9 years (interquartile range 6-12) and the incidence of appendicitis was 31/224 (13.8%, 95% confidence interval 9.3-18.4). The area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of clinician gestalt were 0.84 (0.76-0.91), 81% (63-93%), 76% (69-82%), 35% (28-42%) and 96% (92-98%), respectively, giving an overall diagnostic accuracy of 76% (70-82%). AUC stratified by clinician seniority (junior, intermediate and senior) were 0.89 (0.80-0.98), 0.82 (0.69-0.95) and 0.76 (0.56-0.96), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The diagnostic accuracy of ED clinician gestalt in paediatric appendicitis is comparable to current clinical scoring systems irrespective of seniority.
OBJECTIVE:Abdominal pain is a common paediatric presentation to the ED. Accurate diagnosis of acute appendicitis is challenging, with the best-performing clinical scoring systems having sensitivities between 72% and 100%. The aim of this study is to assess the diagnostic accuracy of clinician gestalt according to seniority in diagnosing paediatric acute appendicitis in ED. METHODS: This is a prospective multi-centre observational study of clinician's prediction of appendicitis in children under the age of 16 years presenting to four EDs with abdominal pain over a 1 month period at each site. Clinician-estimated likelihood of acute appendicitis was compared with the final diagnosis determined by histopathology or operative findings and supplemented by telephone follow up for those without an operation. The primary outcome was diagnostic accuracy of clinician gestalt according to clinician seniority in diagnosing appendicitis. RESULTS: There were 381 children enrolled with completed clinician questionnaires, and 224 children had complete follow up or underwent appendicectomy. The median age was 9 years (interquartile range 6-12) and the incidence of appendicitis was 31/224 (13.8%, 95% confidence interval 9.3-18.4). The area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of clinician gestalt were 0.84 (0.76-0.91), 81% (63-93%), 76% (69-82%), 35% (28-42%) and 96% (92-98%), respectively, giving an overall diagnostic accuracy of 76% (70-82%). AUC stratified by clinician seniority (junior, intermediate and senior) were 0.89 (0.80-0.98), 0.82 (0.69-0.95) and 0.76 (0.56-0.96), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The diagnostic accuracy of ED clinician gestalt in paediatric appendicitis is comparable to current clinical scoring systems irrespective of seniority.
Authors: Johnathan M Sheele; Albertha V Lalljie; Sheena Fletcher; Michael Heckman; Alex Hochwald; Leslie V Simon Journal: Am J Emerg Med Date: 2021-09-03 Impact factor: 4.093
Authors: Laura E Simon; Mamata V Kene; E Margaret Warton; Adina S Rauchwerger; David R Vinson; Mary E Reed; Uli K Chettipally; Dustin G Mark; Dana R Sax; D Ian McLachlan; Dale M Cotton; James S Lin; Gabriela Vazquez-Benitez; Anupam B Kharbanda; Elyse O Kharbanda; Dustin W Ballard Journal: Acad Emerg Med Date: 2020-04-02 Impact factor: 3.451