Utilization and Performance Benchmarking for Postoperative Imaging in Children With Complicated Appendicitis: Results From a Multicenter Collaborative Cohort Study

Multicenter study of 1,316 pediatric appendectomy patients reveals significant hospital-level variation in postoperative imaging practices for suspected organ space infections, with imaging rates ranging from 4.8% to 33.3% and diagnostic efficiency varying 2.7-fold. Findings establish benchmarks for imaging utilization and radiation stewardship to guide quality improvement efforts in pediatric surgical care.