Comparative Diagnostic Accuracy of Ultrasonography and Multi-Detector Computed Tomography in Diagnosing Common Causes of Acute Abdominal Pain: A Hospital-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Aiman Aftab Ahmed, Abdulrehman Javed, Babar Ali*, Rehan Afsar, Sadia Azam, Nousheen Arshad, Muhammad Zakir, Yasir Aziz, Mabroor Ahmad and Muhammad Nadeem

Background and Aim: The recurrent condition that necessitates prompt and quick diagnosis is acute abdominal pain (AAP). AAP may vary from little belly aches to life-threatening conditions that require surgical treatment. AAP is the most common complaint, representing 4% to 10% of visits in the emergency department. The study's primary objective was to compare the accuracy of ultrasonography (USG) and computed tomography (CT) in diagnosing acute abdominal pain.

Methods: The descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the radiology department of a private diagnostic center using computed tomography and ultrasonography on 93 patients utilizing a convenient sampling approach. All patients had a history of abdominal pain for more than 3 hours but less than 5 to 6 days throughout our research length, of all age groups.

Results: The gender of patients presenting with acute abdominal pain demonstrates that females (59, 63.4%) are more familiar with developing acute abdominal pain than males (34, 36.6%). The age groups of patients illustrate that the age group between more than 21 and less than 45 years has the highest frequency of acute abdominal pain, while the age group below 20 years shows the lowest frequency. The results show that appendicitis is the most frequent cause of acute abdominal pain, accounting for 40 (43%), followed by diverticulitis 20 (21.5%), while pancreatitis only accounts for 4 (4.3%) of cases. The sensitivity of CT is higher than USG in diagnosing appendicitis, diverticulitis, and cholecystitis.

Conclusion: Computed tomography has a substantially higher rate of accuracy than ultrasonography in identifying acute abdominal pain, and it has a higher sensitivity than ultrasonography in diagnosing appendicitis, diverticulitis, inflammatory bowel disease, and cholecystitis. However, in the case of pancreatitis, both ultrasound and computed tomography have the same sensitivity and specificity.

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