Predicting the severity of acute appendicitis in children using neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR)
Author
Ayeni, AdewaleMahmood, Fahad
Mustafa, Ameer
Mcleish, Bethan
Kulkarni, Vaibhavi
Singhal, Shika
Akingboye, Akinfemi
Affiliation
Russells Hall Hospital; Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust; The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust; The Dudley Group NHS Foundation TrustPublication date
2022-08-31
Metadata
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Introduction The ability to predict risk of perforation in acute appendicitis (AA) could direct timely management and reduce morbidity. Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) are surrogate severity markers in infections. This study investigates the use of PLR and NLR as a marker for distinguishing uncomplicated (UA) and complicated appendicitis (CA) in children. Materials and methods This retrospective single-center study collected data between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2020. Children between five and 17 years of age with histologically confirmed appendicitis were included. Cut-off values for NLR and PLR were determined by employing the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve with sensitivity and specificity in addition to regression analysis. Results A total of 701 patients were included with a median age of 13 years. Out of which 52% of the cohort was female. The difference between the NLR and PLR ratios between UA and CA was significant (p=0.05, Kruskal-Wallis). For UA, the area under the ROC curve (AUC) and cut-off for NLR and PLR were 0.741, 3.80 with 95% CI of 0.701-0.781 and 0.660, 149.25 with 95% CI of 0.618-0.703, respectively. In CA, using NLR and PLR, AUC and cut-off were 0.776, 8.86 with 95%CI of 0.730-0.822 and 0.694, 193.67 with 95%CI of 0.634-0.755, respectively. All were significant with p<0.001. Conclusions NLR and PLR are reliable, synergistic markers predicting complicated appendicitis which can guide non-operative management in children.Citation
Ayeni A, Mahmood F, Mustafa A, Mcleish B, Kulkarni V, Singhal S, Akingboye A. Predicting the Severity of Acute Appendicitis in Children Using Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) and Platelet-to-Lymphocyte Ratio (PLR). Cureus. 2022 Aug 31;14(8):e28619.Type
ArticlePMID
36185898Journal
CureusPublisher
Springerae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.7759/cureus.28619