Effect of Pain Control on the Diagnosis of Acute Appendicitis on the Diagnostic Accuracy of General Surgeon

The pain control in surgical abdomen has been in debate in masking the correct diagnosis. We would like to investigate the effect of pain control on the diagnostic accuracy of surgeon in suspicious appendicitis patients.

We would give morphine or placebo to the patients suspected of appendicitis randomly and in double-blinded manner, and then surgeons would exam the patient and give the impression for the possibility of the appendicitis(grading 1 to 4).

With this grading, we compare these impression between two groups.

Inclusion Criteria:

• the patients suspected of acute appendicitis over 15 years

Exclusion Criteria:

• less than 15 years
• pregnant
• allergic to morphine
• systolic blood pressure<100mmHg
• received pain killer prior to ED visit
• do not consent