Efficacy of Ultrasonography in the Evaluation of Suspected Appendicitis in a Pediatric Population

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of ultrasound (US) for the diagnosis of acute appendicitis in children.Patients and methodsWe reviewed all sonograms for acute appendicitis in children suspected of having appendicitis from January 2009 to December 2012. Sonographic findings were positive when the largest axial diameters were >6 mm. The sonograms that were unable to find the appendix were classified into an other group and were considered separately. Sonographic findings were compared with surgical pathological findings or discharge diagnoses in cases of no surgery. Subgroup analysis in the surgical group, including patient age (