Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33210209›Full record

ArticleLangenbeck's archives of surgery2021

DIALAPP: a prospective validation of a new diagnostic algorithm for acute appendicitis.

Patrizia Malkomes, Franziska Edmaier, Juliane Liese, Alexander Reinisch-Liese, Hanan El Youzouri, Teresa Schreckenbach, Andreas M Bucher, Wolf Otto Bechstein, Andreas A Schnitzbauer

Registry-linked trialOpen access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Langenbeck's archives of surgery, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02627781 (Evaluation of Diagnostic Algorithm for Suspected Acute Appendicitis), which is not on this map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
0.2field-weighted citation impact, top 40% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT02627781 unknown statusnot on this map

Evaluation of Diagnostic Algorithm for Suspected Acute Appendicitis

Typeobservational_patient_registrySponsorGoethe UniversityRan2015 to 2018Enrolled400ConditionsReduction of Negative Appendectomy Rate
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Observational
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Patrizia MalkomesDepartment of General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Patrizia.Malkomes@kgu.de.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1418-5264
Franziska EdmaierDepartment of General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Juliane LieseDepartment of General, Abdominal, Thoracic and Transplant Surgery, University Hospital of Giessen, Giessen, Germany.
Alexander Reinisch-LieseDepartment of General, Visceral and Oncological Surgery, Wetzlar Clinic, Wetzlar, Germany.
Hanan El YouzouriDepartment of General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Teresa SchreckenbachDepartment of General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Andreas M BucherDepartment of Radiology, Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Goethe University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Wolf Otto Bechstein *Department of General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Andreas A Schnitzbauer *Department of General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Goethe University Frankfurt · DEUniversitätsklinikum Gießen und Marburg · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThe management of patients with suspected appendicitis remains a challenge in daily clinical practice, and the optimal management algorithm is still being debated. Negative appendectomy rates (NAR) continue to range between 10 and 15%. This prospective study evaluated the accuracy of a diagnostic pathway in acute appendicitis using clinical risk stratification (Alvarado score), routine ultrasonography, gynecology consult for females, and selected CT after clinical reassessment.

methodsPatients presenting with suspected appendicitis between November 2015 and September 2017 from age 18 years and above were included. Decision-making followed a clear management pathway. Patients were followed up for 6 months after discharge. The hypothesis was that the algorithm can reduce the NAR to a value of under 10%.

resultsA total of 183 patients were included. In 65 of 69 appendectomies, acute appendicitis was confirmed by histopathology, corresponding to a NAR of 5.8%. Notably, all 4 NAR appendectomies had other pathologies of the appendix. The perforation rate was 24.6%. Only 36 patients (19.7%) received a CT scan. The follow-up rate after 30 days achieved 69%, including no patients with missed appendicitis. The sensitivity and specificity of the diagnostic pathway was 100% and 96.6%, respectively. The potential saving in costs can be as much as 19.8 million €/100,000 cases presenting with the suspicion of appendicitis.

conclusionThe risk-stratified diagnostic algorithm yields a high diagnostic accuracy for patients with suspicion of appendicitis. Its implementation can safely reduce the NAR, simultaneously minimizing the use of CT scans and optimizing healthcare-related costs in the treatment of acute appendicitis.

trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02627781 (December 2015).

Indexed as

AppendicitisAcute DiseaseAlgorithmsAppendectomyFemaleHumansInfant, NewbornProspective StudiesSensitivity and SpecificityUltrasonographyAcute appendicitisClinical trialDiagnostic algorithmNegative appendectomy rateRisk-stratification

Identifiers

PMID33210209
PMCPMC7870637
OpenAlexW3105724204

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.