摘要
Background Serum interleukin-6(IL-6)has a moderate diagnostic performance in pediatric acute appendicitis(PAA).The evidence regarding its capacity to discern between complicated and uncomplicated PAA is scarce.Methods We designed a prospective observational study to validate serum IL-6 as a marker for diagnostic classification between complicated and uncomplicated PAA.This study included 205 patients divided into three groups:(1)patients who underwent major outpatient surgery(n=57);(2)patients with non-surgical abdominal pain(NSAP)in whom the diagnosis of PAA was excluded(n=53),and(3)patients with a confirmed diagnosis of PAA(n=95).The PAA patients were further classified as uncomplicated or complicated PAA.IL-6 concentration was determined in all patients at diagnosis.Comparative statistical analysis was performed using the Mann-Whitney U test,the Fisher exact test and the Kruskall Wallis test.The area under the receiver operating characteristic curves(AUC)were calculated.Results Median(interquartile range,IQR)serum IL-6 values were 2 pg/mL(2.0–3.4)in group 1,3.9 pg/mL(2.4–11.9)in group 2,and 23.9 pg/mL(11.1–61.0)in group 3(P<0.001).Among the participants in group 3,those with uncomplicated PAA had median(IQR)serum IL-6 values of 17.2 pg/mL(8.5–36.8),and those with complicated PAA had 60.25 pg/mL(27.1–169)serum IL-6(P<0.001).At the cut-off point of 19.55 pg/mL,the AUC for the discrimination between patients in group 2 vs.3 was 0.83[95%confidence interval(CI)0.76–0.90],with a sensitivity of 61.3%and a specificity of 86.8.The AUC for the discrimination between patients with uncomplicated and complicated PAA was 0.77(95%CI 0.68–0.86)and the cut-off point was 25.90 pg/mL,with a sensitivity and specificity of 84.6%and 65.6%,respectively.Conclusions Serum IL-6 has a good performance in discerning between complicated and uncomplicated PAA.A score including clinical and radiological variables may increase the diagnostic performance of this molecule.
基金
Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature.This study has not received external funding.None of the authors have financial disclosures to declare.
