Below is a table with clinical features that help with the clinical discrimination between acute appendicitis and mesenteric adenitis. These features will however only provide a guide for the probable cause of a particular clinical presentation.
ACUTE APPENDICITIS | MESENTERIC ADENITIS | |
temperature | 37-38 degrees C | above 38 degrees C |
pharyngitis, cervical adenitis | not present | present |
headache | not present | present |
abdominal pain | present+ | present |
guarding | present | present |
shifting tenderness | not present | present |
vomiting | present/not present | not present |
rebound tenderness | present | not present |
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