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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Pediatr.

Sec. General Pediatrics and Pediatric Emergency Care

Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2025.1676690

Repeat Ultrasound in Pediatric EDs Improves Appendicitis Diagnosis After Referral Imaging

Provisionally accepted
  • 1M Health Fairview Masonic Children's Hospital, Minneapolis, United States
  • 2University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

ABSTRACT Background: Acute appendicitis is a leading cause of surgical emergencies in children, with ultrasound (US) emerging as a preferred diagnostic tool due to its lack of radiation and cost-effectiveness. However, the accuracy of US is highly operator-dependent and may vary between general referring emergency departments (EDs) and specialized pediatric EDs. Objective: To compare the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of US performed at referring EDs versus a pediatric ED in identifying acute appendicitis. Methods: A retrospective study analyzed pediatric patients aged <18 years who underwent US at referring EDs and were transferred to a pediatric ED for repeat imaging between July 2018 and July 2023. Data collected included US findings, surgical pathology, white blood cell count, and patient disposition. Sensitivities of the US were calculated and compared between settings. Results: Among 64 children included, the US at the pediatric ED demonstrated higher sensitivity (85.2%) compared to referring EDs (51.9%) (p = 0.018). Pediatric ED US resulted in fewer nonvisualized appendices (a 34.4% reduction) and equivocal findings (a 30.5% reduction). Patients with positive surgical pathology exhibited higher white blood cell counts (mean 17.1) and neutrophil percentages (mean 81.0%). False positive rates were low (6.9%), aligning with published benchmarks. Conclusion: US performed at pediatric EDs exhibited superior diagnostic accuracy for appendicitis compared to referring EDs, likely due to operator expertise and enhanced imaging

Keywords: ultrasound, Pediatric emergency, Appendicitis, Diagnostic accuracy, Referring Emergency Department

Received: 30 Jul 2025; Accepted: 02 Sep 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Perepelista, Ames, Kaila, Sausen, Schneider, Lunos, Segura, Avendano and Louie. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Jeffrey P Louie, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, United States

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