Acute appendicitis in childhood: oral contrast does not improve CT diagnosis.

Introduction: We compared the diagnostic accuracy of CT performed without and with oral contrast for suspected appendicitis in children.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we reviewed abdomen/pelvis CT scans with IV contrast performed between 2011 and 2015 for suspected appendicitis. Oral contrast was used routinely before August 2013 and eliminated from the CT protocol thereafter.