- Alvarado score
The Alvarado score is a clinical scoring system used in the diagnosis of
appendicitis . The score has 6 clinical items and 1 laboratory measurement which total 9 points.The score
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Abdominal pain that migrates to theright iliac fossa
* Anorexia (loss of apetite) orketones in theurine
*Nausea orvomiting
* Pain on pressure in the right fossa
*Rebound tenderness
*Fever of 37.5°C or more
* >10000white blood cells per microliter in theserum A score of less than 5 is not likely appendicitis, 5 or 6 is equivocal, 7 or 8 is probably appendicitis and 9 points means that the patient is highly likely to have appendicitis.
Complementary value
The Alvarado score has a very low
sensitivity and a lowspecificity , especially in women who can have gynecological diseases mimicking appendicitis. The score has been modified to try and find adapted scores with higher clinical importance. Trials have studied the usefulness for the score in guiding the management of patients with pain in the right fossa, for example to see which patients need aCT scan and which patients needsurgery .ee also
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Appendicitis References
McKay R, Shepherd J. The use of the clinical scoring system by Alvarado in the decision to perform computed tomography for acute appendicitis in the ED. "Am J Emerg Med" 2007; 25(5): 489-93. PMID 17543650
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