ArticlePediatric radiology2021
Pediatric appendiceal ultrasound: maintaining accuracy, increasing determinacy and improving clinical outcomes following the introduction of a standardized reporting template.
Article in Pediatric radiology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Incremental diagnostic value of ultrasound in children with suspected acute appendicitis.Pediatric radiology · 2026Article
- Application value of abdominal ultrasonography in the diagnosis of pediatric patients aged 3-12 years with acute appendicitis.World journal of gastrointestinal surgery · 2025Article
- Review
- Degree of Uncertainty in Reporting Imaging Findings for Necrotizing Enterocolitis: A Secondary Analysis from a Pilot Randomized Diagnostic Trial.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Article
- Factors contributing to uncertainty in paediatric abdominal ultrasound reports in the paediatric emergency department.BMC emergency medicine · 2023Article
- The BIDIAP index: a clinical, analytical and ultrasonographic score for the diagnosis of acute appendicitis in children.Pediatric surgery international · 2023Article
- Reducing Imaging in Pediatric Appendicitis: Another Surgeon's Perspective.Pediatric quality & safetyArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPediatric patients who underwent appendiceal US and received an equivocal interpretation had poorer clinical outcomes and higher medical costs compared to those to whom a definitive interpretation was given, either positive or negative. In an effort to reduce equivocal interpretations, we educated our group on the importance of increasing determinacy and encouraged the use of a reporting template with a definitive impression.
objectiveWe hypothesized that educational sessions and implementation of an optional reporting template with only a definitive impression would reduce equivocal reporting and improve clinical outcomes without negatively impacting US diagnostic performance. MATERIALS AND
methodsWe retrospectively reviewed the charts of all patients <18 years old at Mayo Clinic Rochester whose initial evaluation for acute appendicitis was a US in the 3-year period following educational sessions and template implementation. All studies were interpreted by board-certified fellowship-trained pediatric radiologists. We performed statistical analysis to compare the pre- and post-implementation cohorts.
resultsFollowing intervention, the rate of equivocal US interpretations was reduced from 23.7% to 9.3% (P<0.001). For studies with a definitive interpretation, measures of diagnostic performance of appendiceal US were similar for the pre- and post-implementation groups. US performance parameters were independent of appendiceal visualization. Follow-up CT utilization decreased from 18.7% to 8.9% (P<0.001). The negative laparotomy rate resulting from false-positive US interpretations remained low (6.8% vs. 5.0%, P=0.31).
conclusionFollowing education sessions and implementation of an appendiceal US reporting template encouraging definitive reporting, equivocation was reduced, excellent diagnostic performance was maintained, follow-up CT utilization was reduced, and a low negative laparotomy rate was preserved.
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