Background: Despite being a common problem, acute appendicitis remains a difficult diagnosis to establish, particularly among the young, the elderly and females of reproductive age group, where a host of other genitourinary and gynaeecological inflammatory conditions can present with signs and symptoms that are similar to those of acute appendicitis. Several scoring systems have been developed to aid in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis. The Alvarado score and the modified Alvarado score are the two most commonly used scoring systems.In 2010, RIPASA scoring system was developed and has been claimed to have better outcomes in Asian settings compared to the Alvarado scoring system
Methods: Retrospective study was done in cases proven to be acute appendicitis (based on intra operative findings) comparing the effectiveness of modified Alvarado and RIPASA scoring.
Results: A total of 50 cases were taken and modified Alvarado and RIPASA scorings were calculated. The sensitivity of modified Alvarado was 70% and that of Ripasa was88%
Conclusion: RIPASA scoring is more effective compared to modified Alvarado in terms of sensitivity in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis however both the scoring systems need to be evaluated further by prospective studies comparing sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values.
Key words: Acute appendicitis; Scoring systems; Modified Alvarado scoring system; RIPASA scoring system.
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