Topical issues of diagnosing acute appendicitis in children of pre-school age

The article presents a review of domestic and foreign literature on the modern laboratory and instrumental methods of diagnosing acute appendicitis in pre-school children. There is a high level of diagnostic errors, unreasonable surgical interventions and postoperative complications in the pediatric population. Currently, the clinical symptoms have the greatest diagnostic value, although their reliability is disputable. According to some authors, clinical laboratory data, including the level of leukocytes, are not specific to this pathology. The study of acute phase proteins for diagnosing complicated appendicitis is encouraging and relevant. Highly informative noninvasive instrumental diagnostic methods (sonography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging) have limitations. It is necessary to systematize and improve simple and accessible diagnostic methods to form new criteria for assessing the course of acute appendicitis and predicting its complicated forms.