Childhood appendicitis. A clinical profile.

A study to assess the reliability of clinical symptoms and signs in 50 patients with a presumptive diagnosis of acute appendicitis is presented. The male to female ratio was 3: 2, with age ranging from 2 to 15 years. Abdominal pain was present in 42; tenderness was localized in 35, generalized in 11 and diffuse in 4 patients. Total leucocyte count was above 11,000/cu mm in 31, below 11,000/cu mm in 17 and above 18,000/cu mm in 2. Of the 48 operated patients, 8 had normal appendices and the diagnosis in them was Meckel's diverticulitis 3, ruptured ovarian follicle 2, mesenteric adenitis 2, and salpingo-oophoritis 1. Abdominal pain and right iliac fossa tenderness with contributory investigations are the most reliable indicators of acute appendicitis with a false positive rate of 16.66% only.