Despite more than 280,000 appendectomies being performed in the United States every year, appendicitis remains a diagnostic challenge. Up to 40% of cases do not present in the classic manner and the negative appendectomy rate has stayed the same for decades.
During the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress 2020, Norma T. Walks, MD, a general surgeon at Yuma Regional Medical Center, in Arizona, discussed the benefits of using ultrasound to diagnose appendicitis and compared it with the