RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether some ratios obtained from complete blood count could be favourable predictors in differentiating appendicitis from mesenteric lymphadenitis, appendicitis and familial Mediterranean fever. METHODS: The retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted at AfyonKocatepe University Medical Faculty, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey, from January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2016, and comprised data of patients who presented to the department of paediatric surgery and paediatrics with symptoms of acute abdomen. Mean platelet volume, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, lymphocyte/monocyte ratio, and platelet/lymphocyte ratio of the patients calculated at the time of admission were analysed. SPSS 20 was used for data analysis. RESULTS: Of the 301 patients, there were 139(46.2%) males and 162(53.8%) were females. The overall mean age was 11.5 } 4.33 years. Of the total, 137(45%) had appendicitis, 65(22%) familial Mediterranean fever, and 99(33%) had mesenteric lymphadenitis. Mean platelet volume was significantly different among the study groups (p<0.05). Neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio and platelet/lymphocyte ratio were statistically significantly higher (p<0.05) while lymphocyte/monocyte ratio was significantly lower (p<0.05) in appendicitis cases compared to the others. CONCLUSIONS: Mean platelet volume, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio and platelet/lymphocyte ratio were found to be the potent predictors for the differential diagnosis of familial Mediterranean fever and mesenteric lymphadenitis which are mostly confused with appendicitis.