Can the Addition of a Urine Test Strip Facilitate the Diagnosis of Acute Appendicitis?

Background: In our previous case-control retrospective pilot study we concluded that acute appendicitis may be successfully ruled in with high accuracy based on elevated WBCs and negative urine test strip in combination with presented clinical symptoms. We aimed to validate and assess the diagnostic accuracy of a newly proposed scoring system incorporating urinalysis. Participants and methods: From June 2018 to May 2020, a total of 176 adult patients with suspected acute appendicitis were prospectively enrolled in a diagnostic accuracy study. Results: The logistic regression on the entire group of patients revealed the significance of the addition of urine test strip results to standard laboratory variables (WBC and neutrophils%) only in the group of male patients. Conclusion: Future studies should focus on validating the newly proposed scoring system incorporating urinalysis in larger, multicenter cohorts. The ultimate goal remains the development of accurate, practical tools that support timely decision-making while minimizing unnecessary imaging and surgery.