Admission Blood Biomarkers for Differentiating Acute Appendicitis from Acute Enteritis in Children Younger than Five Years: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Background/Objectives: Acute abdominal pain in children younger than five years is a diagnostic challenge because acute appendicitis and acute enteritis share overlapping clinical features, and delayed recognition of appendicitis increases the risk of perforation and postoperative complications. We aimed to identify admission blood biomarkers that reliably distinguish these two conditions and to quantify their diagnostic accuracy.