Role of C- Reactive Protein in Diagnosis of Acute Appendicitis

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study is to determine the role of C-reactive protein in the
diagnosis of acute appendicitis.
Material and Methods: Seventy patients with suspicion of acute appendicitis were collected
for this study. The patients were collected on the basis of history, clinical examination and
laboratory investigations. Operation was done in all patients and appendix was sent for
histopathology. Histopathology was considered as gold standard.
Results: The mean age of patients was 22.40±7.95 years. The mean C-reactive protein of the
patients was 21.64±19.63μg/ml. There were 14.3% patients of C-reactive protein range of less
than 6μg/ml and 85.7% patients of C-reactive protein range of more than 6μg/ml. In the
histopathology findings, there were 94.3% patients of acutely inflamed appendix and 5.7%
patients of normal appendix. The sensitivity was found to be 86%, specificity 91%, and positive
predictive value 86%, negative predictive value 87% and accuracy 89%.
Conclusion: A normal pre-operative serum CRP measurement in patients with suspected
acute appendicitis is most likely associated with a normal appendix. Deferring surgery in the
patients would probably reduce the rate of unnecessary appendicectomies