Turkan Cetinceviz Co mez, Fatih Mehmet Kislali
Experimental and Applied Medical Science - 2025;6(4):358-371
Objective: Computed tomography is frequently used in children despite radiation. The aim of the study is to determine the reasons for requesting computed tomography in children presenting to the emergency clinic. Methods: Between 2021 January and 2022 January, 319 children who applied for non traumatic reasons and underwent computed tomography were included in the retrospective study. The patients' lower and upper abdominal computed tomography report results, demographic characteristics, symptoms, physical examination and laboratory findings were scanned and recorded from the electronic data system. Results: Of the patients, 166 (52%) were male and 153 (48%) were female. The mean age was 11.80 +/- 4.13 years. While no findings were detected in 110 (34%) patients, findings of acute surgical abdomen were detected in 85 (27%). Findings suggestive of acute appendicitis were detected in 79 of the 85 patients. Male gender, constipation complaint, tenderness in the right lower quadrant and defence on physical examination were significantly higher in children with acute surgical abdominal findings compared to children without findings (p<0.001, p=0.026, p<0.001 and p<0.020 respectively) .In patients with suspected acute surgical pathology, ANC (p<0.001) and NLR cut -off value (p<0.001) were found to be significantly higher according to age. Conclusion : The study revealed that computed tomography is frequently used in pediatric emergency services, especially to exclude the diagnosis of acute appendicitis. The use of computed tomography can be reduced by using detailed history, physical examination, laboratory tests and radiation -free imaging studies according to the suspected preliminary diagnosis.
