Speed bumps may not only help with the prevention of speeding vehicles, but also with the diagnosis of acute appendicitis. Acute appendicitis is the infection of the appendix and is known to be one of the most common abdominal issues that requires emergency surgery. Diagnosis of acute appendicitis can often be challenging because early stages usually have non-specific clinical symptoms (Shogilev et al., 2014). The rapid diagnosis of acute appendicitis is also required to prevent further risk of appendiceal perforation which could lead to death. People with appendicitis have felt pain when traveling over speed bumps and this could be attributed to the movement irritating the peritoneum in a way that is similar to other testing for tenderness (Ashdown et al., 2012). So, could speed bumps help in the diagnosis of patients with appendicitis?
A study by Ashdown et al., (2012) studied this question with about 100 individuals that had a wide range of ages and possibly had appendicitis. In this study, they measured the sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and likelihood ratios of abdominal pain from speed bumps in classifying appendicitis. The reference they used to compare these measurements was with a histological diagnosis where they looked at the tissue through a microscope, and results displayed that the majority of participants that travelled over speed bumps were “speed bump positive” indicating they had pain over the speed bump. Most of those who had felt pain over the speed bump had confirmed diagnosis of appendicitis. The rest of the participants that felt pain and did not have a diagnosis of appendicitis, were diagnosed with other abdominal complications. They also found overall a high sensitivity with pain from speed bumps and this confirms that speed bumps are a tool that could be used to identify appendicitis and other abdominal diagnoses, but they also found low specificity which would mean that speed bumps can not specifically identify and guarantee appendicitis.
All in all, speed bumps, although not the best method to accurately diagnose acute appendicitis, can be used to assess patients for the possibility of having appendicitis. So, if you feel some abdominal pain traveling over a speed bump, you might want to consider asking a doctor about the possibility of having acute appendicitis.
Ashdown, H., D’Souza, N., Karim, D., Stevens, R., Huang, A., & Harnden, A. (2012, December 17). Pain over speed bumps in diagnosis of acute appendicitis: Diagnostic accuracy study. Retrieved November 19, 2020, from https://www.bmj.com/content/345/bmj.e8012
Shogilev, D., Duus, N., Odom, S., & Shapiro, N. (2014, November). Diagnosing appendicitis: Evidence-based review of the diagnostic approach in 2014. Retrieved November 19, 2020, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4251237/
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