Manuel Gil Vargas¹*, Mariana Lee Miguel Sardaneta², Homero Vargas Juárez³, Guadalupe Dominguez Arellano⁴ and Diana Niño Barrios⁴

¹Hospital Para el Niño Poblano, Pediatric Surgery Service, Puebla, México
²Hospital General de la Zona Norte “Bicentenario de la Independencia”, Education and Research Service, Puebla, México
³Hospital General de la Zona Norte “Bicentenario de la Independencia”, Pediatric Surgery Service, Puebla, México
⁴Research Department, Hospital General de la Zona Norte “Bicentenario de la Independencia”, Puebla, México

*Corresponding Author: Manuel Gil Vargas, Hospital Para el Niño Poblano, Pediatric Surgery Service, Puebla, México.

Received: December 04, 2025; Published: January 12, 2026

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to determine the sensitivity and specificity of procalcitonin in pediatric patients with complicated acute appendicitis.

Method: Retrospective, analytic, observational, homodemic, and transversal studies. The present study included patients aged 1–15 years with a diagnosis of acute appendicitis, who underwent an appendectomy between January 2018 and February 2022, and whose procalcitonin level was measured at the time of admission. We used the Mann-Whitney U test and Fisher's exact test for statistical analysis, and the ROC to determine the sensitivity and specificity of procalcitonin.

Results: The study included 70 patients, 47 of whom presented with simple appendicitis and 23 with complicated appendicitis. The mean value of procalcitonin for complicated appendicitis was 1.5 ng/ml (p = 0), and 0.3 ng/ml for simple appendicitis. The area under the curve was 0.952, with a cutoff point of 0.74 for complicated acute appendicitis.

Conclusion: Procalcitonin has a sensitivity of 87% and a specificity of 10%.

 Keywords: Procalcitonin; Sensitivity; Specificity; Complicated Appendicitis; Children

References

1. Kohan R., et al. “Apendicitis aguda en el niño”. Rev Chil pediatría2 (2012): 474-481.
2. Mendoza R and Alonso JF. “Apendicitis en edades pediátricas”. Cirujano General3 (2005): 238-244.
3. Alvarado A. “How to improve the clinical diagnosis of acute appendicitis in resource limited settings”. World Journal of Emergency Surgery16 (2016).
4. Souto MG., et al. “Procalcitonina en la práctica clínica”. Medicina Interna de México6 (2016): 927-930.
5. Russwurm R and Reihart K. “Procalcitonin mode of action: new pieces in a complex puzzle”. Critical Care Medicine8 (2004): 1801-1802.
6. Reoyo JF., et al. “Procalcitonina y sepsis en pacientes de cirugía general”. Gaceta Médica de Bilbao4 (2010): 123-127.
7. Cui W., et al. “Diagnostic accuracy of procalcitonin for overall and complicated acute appendicitis in children: a meta-analysis”. Italian Journal of Pediatrics1 (2019): 78.
8. Pian P., et al. “Diagnostic value of serum procalcitonin in appendicitis in infants and young children: Retrospective cohort study”. Clinical Laboratory11 (2012).
9. Khan ANGA., et al. “The usefulness of procalcitonin in the diagnosis of appendicitis in children: a pilot study”. Emergency Medical International 2012 (2012): 317504.
10. Gavela T., et al. “C-reactive protein and procalcitonin are predictors of the severity of acute appendicitis in children”. Pediatric Emergency Care5 (2012): 416-419.
11. Assicot M., et al. “High serum procalcitonin concentrations in patients with sepsis and infection”. Lancet 8844 (1991): 515-518.
12. Kafetzis DA., et al. “Procalcitonin as a predictor of severe appendicitis in children”. European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases7 (2007): 484-487.
13. Haghi AR., et al. “The diagnostic values of procalcitonin and interleukin 6 in acute appendicitis”. Turkish Journal of Surgery (2018): 1-3.
14. Yang J., et al. “Laboratory markers in the prediction of acute perforated appendicitis in children”. Emergency Medical International 2019 (2019): 4608053.
15. Chandel V., et al. “Procalcitonin as the biomarker of inflammation in diagnosis of appendicitis in pediatric patients and prevention of unnecessary appendectomies”. Indian Journal of Surgery2 (2011): 136-141.

Citation

Citation: Manuel Gil Vargas., et al. “Sensitivity and Specificity of Procalcitonin in Pediatric Patients with Complicated Acute Appendicitis”.Acta Scientific Medical Sciences 10.2 (2026): 12-16.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2026 Manuel Gil Vargas., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.