The European journal of surgery = Acta chirurgica
-
Multicenter Study
Why does the clinical diagnosis fail in suspected appendicitis?
To identify systematic errors in surgeons' estimations of the importance of diagnostic variables in the decision to explore patients with suspected appendicitis. ⋯ Negative explorations in patients with suspected appendicitis are related to systematic errors in the clinical diagnosis with too strong an emphasis on pain and tenderness, and too little attention paid to duration of symptoms and objective signs of inflammation. Rectal tenderness is not a sign of appendicitis. The risk of diagnostic errors is similar in men and women.