Ecotomografía en la apendicitis aguda / Echotomography in the acute appendicitis

RESUMO

Acute appendicitis is the most frequent cause of surgical abdominal emergency. In most of these patients (70 percent) the diagnosis is based on the clinic history and on the physical examination. In those cases the clinic presentation is confusing, the ultrasound with gray scale and high frequency transducers, using the graduated compression technique, has become of great help. It has been reported a sensibility of 84-96 percent with a specificity of 94-98 percent for the diagnostic method. Also lately is has been that the study with color doppler can be useful as help in the diagnosis of appendicitis, demostrating a local increase in the blood flow in the appendicular wall or in the inflammatory mass. However, color doppler by itself acquires its greater usefulness in those cases in which the appendicular size is limit