Diagnostic value of lactate levels in acute appendicitis

To assess the value of lactate measurements in addition to standard diagnostic measurement of white blood cell count [WBC] and C-reactive protein [CRP] in the accuracy of preoperative acute appendicitis [AA] diagnosis. A total of thirty-six consecutive patients with histopathologically confirmed acute appendicitis were retrospectively included in the study. Fifteen volunteers were included as control group. Patient characteristics, preoperative ultrasonography [US] and laboratory assessment including WBC, C-reactive protein [CRP] and lactate values were collected. Receiver Operator Characterstics [ROC] curves for discriminant values and sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values [PPV.NPV] were calculated. The male/female ratio of groups 1 and 2 were 25/11 and 9/6 respectively. Mean age: 34.13 +/- 9.6 years. Area under ROC values for lactate were found significant and discriminant value was found to be 8 mg/dl. Specificity, sensitivity, PPV and NPV calculated for lactate were as follows: 53%, 80%, 77% and 57%. Increased lactate levels as well as other inflammatory parameters should be considered as a diagnostic parameter in diagnosis of AA