Complement Diagnosis of Acute Appendicitis

Acute appendicitis is a common condition requiring urgent surgery but is often difficult to distinguish from other non-surgical conditions such as urinary infections, pelvic inflammatory disease and non-specific abdominal pain. Delay in diagnosis can result in significant morbidity and potential mortality. Currently, there is no one diagnostic test available and raised inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and White Blood Count (WBC) along with an evolving clinical picture, help guide management. However, these markers are slow to respond to inflammation and are non-specific for appendicitis. The Complement cascade is an immune response to inflammation and infection involving three pathways which activate a number of proteins in the blood. Monitoring the absolute levels of these proteins should provide a faster and differential diagnostic test. The investigators propose a pilot trial to measure concentrations of Complement cascade activation biomarkers in the blood during hospital admissions for acute right lower abdominal pain, a symptom of appendicitis. Further, analysis of the differential Complement cascade pathway activation could potentially identify underlying pathology allowing the clinicians to target therapies.