Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34046706›Full record

ArticlePediatric radiology2021

Does age affect the test performance of secondary sonographic findings for pediatric appendicitis?

Jeffrey T Neal, Michael C Monuteaux, Shawn J Rangel, Richard G Bachur, Carol E Barnewolt

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

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 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
1.5field-weighted citation impact, top 18% 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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. 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

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Jeffrey T NealDivision of Emergency Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, BCH 3066, 300 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA, 02115, USA. jeffrey.neal@childrens.harvard.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7655-3483
Michael C MonuteauxDivision of Emergency Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, BCH 3066, 300 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Shawn J RangelDepartment of Surgery, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Richard G BachurDivision of Emergency Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, BCH 3066, 300 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Carol E BarnewoltDepartment of Radiology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Boston Children's Hospital · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSecondary sonographic findings of appendicitis can aid image analysis and support diagnosis with and without visualization of an appendix.

objectiveWe sought to determine if age affected the test performance of secondary findings for pediatric appendicitis. MATERIALS AND

methodsWe performed a medical record review of emergency department patients younger than 19 years of age who had a sonogram for suspected appendicitis. Our primary patient outcome was appendicitis, as determined by pathology or by image-confirmed perforation/abscess. Our primary analysis was test performance of secondary sonographic findings as recorded by sonographers on the final diagnosis of appendicitis stratified by age (<6 years, 6 to <11 years, 11 to <19 years).

resultsA total of 1,219 patients with suspected appendicitis were evaluated by ultrasound, and 1,147 patients met the criteria for analysis. Of the 1,147 patients, 431 (37.6%) had a final diagnosis of appendicitis. Across all age groups, echogenic fat was the most accurate secondary finding (92.5% [95% confidence interval (CI): 91.0, 94.0]) and free fluid was the least accurate secondary finding (54.7% [95% CI: 51.8, 57.5]). There was no significant difference in the age-stratified test performance of secondary sonographic findings except that (1) appendicolith was a more accurate predictor in patients <6 years old than in the middle group (P<0.001) or the oldest group (P<0.001), and (2) free fluid was a more accurate predictor in the middle group than in the oldest group (P=0.02).

conclusionThere are no significant differences in the age-stratified test performance of secondary sonographic findings in the prediction of pediatric appendicitis except that appendicolith is more predictive in younger patients.

Indexed as

AppendicitisAppendixChildHumansRetrospective StudiesSensitivity and SpecificityUltrasonographyAgeAppendicitisAppendixChildrenSecondary findingsUltrasound

Identifiers

PMID34046706
PMCPMC8158081
OpenAlexW3165105595

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.