Appendicitis in Children: Evaluation of the Pediatric Appendicitis Score in Younger and Older Children
Table 3
Parent and doctor delays.
≥4 years
<4 years
value
Time from onset of symptoms to seeking care (mean (range), hours)
36.4 (2–144)
70.8 (12–168)
0.005*
Prior doctor consultationa without scheduled readmission ( (%))
6/102 (5.9)
5/20 (25.0)
0.017**
Presumed diagnosis in patients with doctor delay ()
Unspecific abdominal pain (4) and constipation (2)
Gastroenteritis (2), pyelonephritis, constipation, and unspecified virus infection
PAS in patients with doctor delaya (mean (range))
4.8 (2–6)
3.8 (3–5)
0.317*
aDoctor at the pediatric emergency room (ER) sent the child home without any suspicion of appendicitis, and hence, no planned reevaluation of the child the next day; : numbers; *Mann-Whitney -test, two-tailed; **Fisher’s two-tailed exact test.
