Clinical Correlation between Hyponatremia and Complicated Appendicitis, A Prospective Cohort Study

Abstract

Introduction: Acute appendicitis is a frequent surgical emergency; therefore, prompt diagnosis and management are essential.
Certain clinical predictors are used to diagnose it. However, no such predictor is available to assess the complicated appendiciti
s in the absence of radiological investigations like CT scan. Serum sodium levels have gained a lot of attention in recent times
to assess the severity of the disease and is believed to be a clinical parameter in the diagnosis of complicated appendicitis
preoperatively.

Methods: This study involves correlation of hyponatremia with complicated appendicitis. We included 236 patients in this
study, meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria. For each patient, preoperative serum sodium levels were measured and corelated post operatively.

Results: Our study reported a strong correlation between hyponatremia and its pre-operative accuracy in diagnosis of
complicated appendicitis.

Conclusion: Hyponatremia can be considered as a reliable marker of complicated appendicitis due to its cost effectivity and
easy availability in emergency departments.

Keywords: Complicated appendicitis, Clinical markers, Hyponatremia, Low-income country, Cost effective marker