Appendicitis is one of the most common surgical diagnoses. The failure to diagnose appendicitis is among the five leading causes of adverse outcomes, patient injury and successful litigation involving emergency, urgent care and primary care physicians. For a variety of reasons, the diagnosis of appendicitis is particularly vexing in children, especially young children. Appendicitis is misdiagnosed in 7.5% to 12% of cases in children less than 15 years of age, and up to 57% of cases in children less than six years of age. Practitioners must think of appendicitis whenever a child presents with abdominal pain, and provide the appropriate evaluation, observation and management. In this activity, we focus on common medical errors in the evaluation and diagnosis of appendicitis in children. We present and discuss a number of cases where the diagnosis of appendicitis was allegedly missed or delayed. After completing this activity, practitioners should be able to: integrate awareness of the reasons for the failure to diagnose appendicitis in pediatric patients into clinical practice to improve patient safety, improve documentation, and decrease the risk of exposure to medical malpractice; create a standard approach to the evaluation of pediatric patients with abdominal pain that includes a history and physical exam with a specific focus on appendicitis; and analyze how cognitive biases such as anchoring and premature closure impact the evaluation of pediatric patients with abdominal pain.
- Provider:The Sullivan Group
- Activity Link: https://www.thesullivangroup.com/RSQSolutions/course-purchase-home/
- Start Date: 2023-07-04 05:00:00
- End Date: 2023-07-04 05:00:00
- Credit Details: AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™️: 2.0 hours
- Commercial Support: No
- Activity Type: Enduring Material
- CME Finder Type: Online Learning
- Fee to Participate: Variable
- Measured Outcome: Learner Competence, Learner Knowledge, Learner Performance, Patient Health
- Provider Ship: Directly Provided
- Registration: Open to all