Diagnostic value of mean platelet volume (MPV) and platelet distribution width (PDW) in patients with acute appendicitis

ABSTRACT Diagnostic Value of Mean Platelet Volume (MPV) and Platelet Distribution Width (PDW) In Patients With Acute Appendicitis Introductıon And Aim: Acute appendicitis (AA) is the most frequently encountered disorder in patients presenting to emergency department with the complaint of abdominal pain. In addition to clinical signs, clinical scoring systems and radiological imaging studies, some biochemical and hematological parameters can aid in the diagnosis. Mean platelet volume (MPV) and platelet distribution width (PDW) are among the parameters that can be used for this purpose. MPV and PDW are indicators of platelet activity. We aimed to investigate the role of MPV and PDW in differential diagnosis of patients presenting to our hospital with the complaint of abdominal pain, who were pathologically diagnosed with AA or were discharged after clinical follow-up without operation. Method: We retrospectively reviewed patients who were hospitalized due to diagnosis of AA after presenting with the complaint of abdominal pain. Those who underwent appendectomy and were pathologically diagnosed as AA were categorized as AA (+) study group, whereas those who did not undergo appendectomy and were discharged after medical treatment were categorized as AA (-) control group. Hemogram results at the time of presentation to emergency department were retrieved from the electronic patient medical files. Statistical analysis of the data was carried out with SPSS 20 package software. Results: Of all the examined patients, 46.6% (494) were female. 83.6% (888) were in the AA (+) group. There was no statistically significant difference between study and control groups regarding age. MPV values were within reference range in both groups, and did not show significant difference between the two groups (p=0.717). PDW values were significantly lower in the AA (+) patient group (p=0.007). WBC count (p<0.001), neutrophil count (p<0.001), neutrophil percentage in parallel with the neutrophil count (p<0.001), RBC count (p=0.028), and NLR value were significantly higher in the AA (+) patient group compared to the AA (-) patient group (p<0.001). Conclusion: MPV value did not show any significance in terms of discriminating AA (+) patient group from the AA (-) patient group. PDW values, however, was significantly lower in the AA (+) patient group.