CT screenings can reduce the rate of negative appendectomy by a significant margin
CT screenings can reduce the rate of negative appendectomy by a significant margin
CT scans or Computed Tomography imaging is also known as Computerized Axial Tomography or CAT scans. A CT screening produces cross-sectional images that may be used as a diagnostic tool for a wide variety diseases and health conditions.Negative appendectomy rate measures the number of instances when the patients diagnosed with appendicitis were operated on to remove the appendix and later was found did not have the condition of acute appendicitis.
Researchers had analyzed health reports of 663 patients who had been diagnosed with appendicitis after a CT scan. 268 of them had an appendectomy after the scan results. Only 3% of the cases reported of negative appendectomy, as compared to 20% cases that used to happen before CT screenings were done for appendicitis cases.
Acute appendicitis is a condition that can mostly be confirmed after doing the surgery and so most of the time surgeons prefer surgery as a treatment. CT scans however provide an accurate picture about the health condition and help the medics to distinguish between symptoms of appendicitis and other conditions that mimic the symptoms of the same.
