The role of urinary 5- hydroxyindoleacetic acid determination in diagnosis of acute appendicitis

Abstract

Hamid Hindi Sarhan, Aseel Fawzi Hatroosh, Amina Hamed Alobaidi

Background. Appendicitis is associated with high rate of wrong diagnosis. Objective. To evaluate the predictive value of 5-HIAA in diagnosis of appendicitis. Methods. Spot urine samples were collected from 147 patients with appendicitis and 45 healthy controls. 5-HIAA was detected in urine samples in all patients using ELISA method. Results. The mean 5-HIAA level was 4.5 µmol/mmol creatinine in healthy individuals, 5.8 µmol/mmol creatinine in patients with wrongly diagnosed appendicitis and 15.7 µmol/mmol creatinine in patients with appendicitis. The difference between patients group with appendicitis and other 2 groups was statistically highly significant (P<0.001). However, the difference between the normal individuals group and wrongly diagnosed group was statistically non significant. The test had 81% sensitivity and 85% specificity. Conclusion. This study indicated that determination of 5-HIAA as non- invasive test was with predictive value in diagnosis of appendicitis. Thus reducing the malpractice in surgical operation in Iraqi community