Loading...
Investigators performed a meta-analysis of 29 prospective studies of the Alvarado score and the Pediatric Appendicitis Score () to evaluate their accuracy and optimal cutoffs for diagnosing appendicitis in adults and children (age ≤18 years).
In adults, Alvarado scores <4 and <5 yielded likelihood ratios (LRs) of 0.03 and 0.02, respectively, while scores ≥7 and ≥8 yielded LRs of 3.4 and 6.7. In children, LRs for Alvarado scores <4 and <5 were 0.02 and 0.04, respectively, while LRs for scores ≥7 and ≥9 were 4.2 and 8.5. Compared with the Alvarado score, the Pediatric Appendicitis Score underdiagnosed appendicitis in children with scores <4 (LR, 0.13); scores >8 yielded a LR of 8.1, but heterogeneity among studies was greater than for…
