A compound identifiable in urine might help doctors distinguish appendicitis from other abdominal problems and avoid needless surgery, researchers report online June 23 in the Annals of Emergency Medicine.
Because signs of appendicitis are particularly difficult to assess in young children and elderly adults, surgeons unnecessarily remove a healthy appendix in 10 to 20 percent of appendectomies performed in the United States, says pediatrician Alex Kentsis of Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital Boston.
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