Evaluation of appendicitis risk prediction models in adults with suspected appendicitis

Background Appendicitis is the most common general surgical emergency worldwide, but its diagnosis remains challenging. The aim of this study was to determine whether existing risk prediction models can reliably identify patients presenting to hospital in the UK with acute right iliac fossa (RIF) pain who are at low risk of appendicitis. Methods A systematic search was completed to identify all existing appendicitis risk prediction models. Models were validated using UK data from an international prospective cohort study that captured consecutive patients aged 16–45 years presenting to hospital with acute RIF in March to June 2017. The main outcome was best achievable model specificity (proportion of patients who did not have appendicitis correctly classified as low risk) whilst maintaining a failure rate below 5 per cent (proportion of patients identified as low risk who actually had appendicitis). Results Some 5345 patients across 154 UK hospitals were identified, of which two‐thirds (3613 of 5345, 67·6 per cent) were women. Women were more than twice as likely to undergo surgery with removal of a histologically normal appendix (272 of 964, 28·2 per cent) than men (120 of 993, 12·1 per cent) (relative risk 2·33, 95 per cent c.i. 1·92 to 2·84; P < 0·001). Of 15 validated risk prediction models, the Adult Appendicitis Score performed best (cut‐off score 8 or less, specificity 63·1 per cent, failure rate 3·7 per cent). The Appendicitis Inflammatory Response Score performed best for men (cut‐off score 2 or less, specificity 24·7 per cent, failure rate 2·4 per cent). Conclusion Women in the UK had a disproportionate risk of admission without surgical intervention and had high rates of normal appendicectomy. Risk prediction models to support shared decision‐making by identifying adults in the UK at low risk of appendicitis were identified

Systemic ropivacaine diminishes pain sensitization processes: A randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, crossover study in healthy volunteers

Introduction: Ropivacaine is a local anesthetic widely used for regional anesthesia. One of its advantages is low toxicity at plasma concentrations reached systemically during continuous peripheral or central nervous block. The objective of this study was to test the effect of systemic ropivacaine on pain, hyperalgesia, dynamic allodynia, and flare response. Methods: This randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, crossover study was carried out in at the Clinical Trials Centre, University of Zurich, Switzerland. Twenty healthy male volunteers were included in the study. Exclusion criteria were contraindications or hypersensitivity to local anesthetics, vulnerable subjects (intellectually or mental impaired), drug, alcohol or nicotine abuse, known peripheral neuropathies, diabetes mellitus and/or congestive heart disease. Ropivacaine and saline were infused intravenously during a subcutaneous electrical stimulation. The stimulation software adjusted the stimulus strength according to the rating on a numeric rating scale (NRS; 0–10) maintaining a NRS of 5. Areas of punctate hyperalgesia, dynamic allodynia, and flare response were measured before and after the infusion. Results: The area of hyperalgesia increased significantly with saline (303 ± 380%, P < 0.05) and ropivacaine (186 ± 137%, P < 0.05). The area of allodynia (253 ± 299%, P < 0.05) and flare response (112 ± 24%, P < 0.05) increased only during the placebo infusion. Conclusion: The results of this study imply that systemic ropivacaine may diminish pain sensitization processes

Biodiversity field trials to inform reforestation and natural resource management strategies along the African Great Green Wall in Senegal

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