The Development and Validation of Artificial Intelligence Pediatric Appendicitis Decision-tree (AiPAD) for Children 0-12 years old

AI-based decision tree (AiPAD) achieves 97.1% accuracy in diagnosing appendicitis in children 0-12 years using only clinical and laboratory parameters, without imaging. Prospectively validated across 305 patients, the model demonstrates high PPV (96.7%) and NPV (97.4%), offering a practical tool to reduce unnecessary imaging and improve diagnostic efficiency in pediatric emergency settings.