Diagnostic Performance of C Reactive Protein and Delta CRP in Acute Appendicitis

Completed

• Conditions: Appendicitis
• Interventions: Biological: C-reactive protein measurement

• Registration Number: NCT02730585
• Lead Sponsor: University of Monastir

Brief Summary

The diagnosis of acute appendicitis is difficult and despite important advances in medical sciences, detailed patient questioning and precise medical examination are the main keystones of the diagnosis of acute appendicitis and up to now, results still unsatisfactory.

Detailed Description

Acute appendicitis is the most common surgical emergency and the most common source of community-acquired intra-abdominal infections. The lack of accuracy in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis yields often to two types of outcomes: a delay in diagnosis leads to perforation and peritonitis in up to 15% of the cases and unnecessary appendectomy is associated with post-operative complications such as wound infection and adhesions. CRP is an acute phase protein that is often used by many surgeons as a diagnostic marker of acute appendicitis. During the evaluation of patients with possible appendicitis in the emergency department (ED), repeated physical examination of the abdomen may provide further information about the decision making. However, the role of repeated laboratory examinations is not proven.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether repeated serum CRP measures could be useful to predict acute appendicitis, after 3 hours of observation, in comparison with the histopathological findings.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2010-01
• Primary Completion: 2013-12
• Study Completion: 2013-12
• Study First Submitted: 2016-04-01
• Study First Submitted QC: 2016-04-01
• Study First Posted: 2016-04-06
• Status Verified: 2016-08
• Last Update Submitted: 2016-08-31
• Last Update Posted: 2016-09-01

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 500

Inclusion Criteria

• age > 8 year old
• clinical suspicion of acute appendicitis including the presence of direct tenderness in the right lower quadrant, percussion and rebound tenderness, pyrexia, anorexia, nausea and vomiting.

Exclusion Criteria

• patients receiving anti coagulants
• pregnant women
• patients using antibiotics during the study period.

Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Acute appendicitis	C-reactive protein measurement	all patients admitted to our hospital with a clinically suspected acute appendicitis.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Final diagnosis of acute appendicitis	15 days from patients inclusion	The final diagnosis of acute appendicitis was based, in operated patients, on the results of the histologic examination of the excised appendix and, in non operated patients, on the absence of acute appendicitis at the 2 weeks follow-up visit.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Emergency department of university hospital Fattouma Bourguiba of Monastir; 🇹🇳 Monastir, Tunisia