cliot (version 1.0.0)

air_appendicitis: Appendicitis Inflammatory Response (AIR) Score

Description

Calculates the AIR Score to predict the likelihood of acute appendicitis. Designed to outperform the Alvarado score, the AIR score incorporates objective inflammatory markers (CRP and PMN proportion) alongside clinical signs to stratify patients into low, intermediate, or high probability groups.

Usage

air_appendicitis(vomiting, rlq_pain, rebound_tenderness, temp_c,
                 wbc_count, pmn_percent, crp_mg_l)

Value

A list containing:

AIR_Score

The calculated score (Range 0-12).

Risk_Group

Probability grouping (Low 0-4, Indeterminate 5-8, High 9-12).

Recommendation

Clinical management suggestion based on the Andersson et al. validation.

Arguments

vomiting

Numeric (0 or 1). Presence of vomiting. (1 = Yes, +1 point).

rlq_pain

Numeric (0 or 1). Pain in the right inferior fossa. (1 = Yes, +1 point).

rebound_tenderness

Numeric (0-3). Grade of rebound tenderness or muscular defense. 0: None. 1: Light (+1 point). 2: Medium (+2 points). 3: Strong (+3 points).

temp_c

Numeric. Body temperature in Celsius. (>= 38.5 C adds +1 point).

wbc_count

Numeric. White Blood Cell count (x10^9/L). 10.0 - 14.9: +1 point. >= 15.0: +2 points.

pmn_percent

Numeric. Proportion of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (%). 70 - 84%: +1 point. >= 85%: +2 points.

crp_mg_l

Numeric. C-Reactive Protein level (mg/L). 10 - 49: +1 point. >= 50: +2 points.

References

Andersson M, Andersson RE. The appendicitis inflammatory response score: a tool for the diagnosis of acute appendicitis that outperforms the Alvarado score. World J Surg. 2008;32(8):1843-1849. doi:10.1007/s00268-008-9649-y

Examples

# Example 1: High Probability
# Vomiting, RLQ pain, Strong Rebound (3), Temp 39 (1), WBC 16 (2), PMN 90% (2), CRP 60 (2)
# Score = 1 + 1 + 3 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 12
air_appendicitis(1, 1, 3, 39, 16, 90, 60)

# Example 2: Low Probability
# RLQ pain only, Normal labs
# Score = 1
air_appendicitis(0, 1, 0, 37, 8, 60, 5)