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 Vol. 22 No. 5, November 2009
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AAP Grand Rounds 22:50 (2009)
© 2009 American Academy of Pediatrics

EMERGENCY MEDICINE

Validation of the Pediatric Appendicitis Score

Source: Bhatt M, Joseph L, Ducharme FM, et al. Prospective validation of the Pediatric Appendicitis Score in a Canadian pediatric emergency department. Acad Emerg Med. 2009;16(7):591–596; doi:10.1111/j.1553-2712.2009.00445.x[CrossRef][Medline]

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.


PICO

Question: Among children with suspected appendicitis in the emergency department, is the Pediatric Appendicitis Score a useful and valid tool for predicting the diagnosis?

Question type: Diagnosis

Study design: Prospective study

 

To evaluate the diagnostic utility of the Pediatric Appendicitis Score (PAS),1 Canadian investigators prospectively studied a convenience sample of children aged 4 to 18 years with possible appendicitis. Children with acute abdominal pain for less than three days who presented to Montreal Children’s Hospital Emergency Department (ED) between 2003 and 2005 were eligible for the study if the ED physician considered appendicitis as a diagnosis. Nonverbal children, those with a history of chronic abdominal pathology (eg, inflammatory bowel disease) or prior appendectomy, and those who did not have a complete blood count (CBC) performed were excluded.

The PAS score ranges from 0 to 10 and includes eight diagnostic indicators. One point each is scored for the presence of anorexia, pyrexia, nausea/emesis, migration of . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Michelle Stevenson, MD, MS, FAAP
Pediatric Emergency Medicine, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY