Clinical history, some labs, and imaging are typically used to diagnose. In adults, CT scan has the highest sensitivity and specificity (0.96 and 0.96); better

Clinical history, some labs, and imaging are typically used to diagnose. In adults, CT scan has the highest sensitivity and specificity (0.96 and 0.96); better than ultrasound. The difference is not as pronounced in children (smaller abdomen-- easier to visualize using ultrasound), so that is commonly used to save exposure to radiation (though note that an abdominal CT scan is actually a very low dose). Source: https://effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/topics/appendicitis/research https://effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/topics/appendicitis/res... "The estimated effective radiation dose of abdominopelvic CT is 8 to 10 mSv with standard dose and 2 to 4 mSv with low dose techniques [40]. To put these numbers into context, the effective dose from annual background radiation is 3.1 mSv and from plain abdominal radiography is 0.7 mSv." (from https://www.uptodate.com/contents/acute-appendicitis-in-adults-diagnostic-evaluation https://www.uptodate.com/contents/acute-appendicitis-in-adul...)