Acute appendicitis is inflammation and then an infection of the appendix, which causes severe pain in the abdomen.
This phenomenon mainly affects young people under the age of 20. Emergency surgery is necessary to avoid serious complications, such as perforation of the appendix and spread of pus into the abdomen, secondary to the development of inflammation and infection.
Symptoms
What side of your body is your appendix on?
The appendicitis attack usually begins with more or less intense pain in the lower abdomen, to the right of the abdomen. The patient is not hungry, may have nausea or vomiting, moderate fever, and sometimes also constipation.
In children under three years of age, other symptoms may appear and make the diagnosis more difficult, such as insomnia, agitation, diarrhea, loss of appetite, or even a more or less high fever.
Abdominal pain has many other causes and that in this case. We should not always confuse it with the appendix. We should be aware of the fact that what side is your appendix on. And it is always advisable to consult your pediatrician or attending physician.
How does appendix feel like?
This is the inflammation of the intestinal lymph nodes of viral origin. The diagnosis is made by abdominal ultrasound.
Does appendicitis hurt: The doctor performs palpation of the abdomen if the patient feels severe pain and muscle tension?
Abdominal pain is usually felt below the right side of the navel, but sometimes in the left region that is, under the liver, because the appendix can have different locations. You must have the knowledge of what side of the body is your appendix on.
Due to the variability of symptoms, it is not always easy to establish a definite diagnosis. Hospital observation and additional laboratory tests (blood test) but especially ultrasound can be useful to ensure that it is indeed an attack of appendicitis.
Causes
There are many causes: residues of feces or external compression can obstruct the appendix, and thus cause bacterial multiplication and inflammation and then infection.
Treatment
If appendicitis is diagnosed, the doctor will prescribe hospitalization, for confirmation of the stationary diagnosis. The child should be fasting and will be put on antibiotics. According to the latest publications, this antibiotic treatment may be sufficient to stop appendicitis. If necessary, a surgical operation, called an appendectomy, will be performed to avoid complications. This operation consists of the removal of the infected appendix.
The intervention is performed by laparoscopy in 99% of cases. These are small incisions (1 to 3) of about 1cm each. The surgical instruments thus allow the surgeon to reach the targeted area and perform the surgery of the appendix without opening the abdomen.
In the remaining, 1 to 2% of cases (mainly for the forms seen late and complicated), and the abdominal opening is made by the surgeon. Subsequently, there is mild pain due to the scarring of the abdominal muscles. These operations are always performed under general anesthesia.
Even if he can leave the hospital very quickly (often two days later), you must rest to fully recover from the fatigue of the operation and respect the healing time. Gradually, three weeks later, the patient will be able to resume their physical activities gently; the doctor can even prescribe painkillers to calm the pain in the stomach.
Preventative measures
If in doubt about the cause of abdominal pain, it is better to consult, because early diagnosis is the best way to prevent complications.
It should be noted that nothing replaces a medical examination. Only your doctor or the emergency room doctor can make a definite diagnosis. So if in doubt: go to your doctor or the Emergency Department!
Most often the attack of appendicitis occurs between the age of 10 and 30 years. It affects one in fifteen people. And you have to go quickly because if the appendix ruptures: it is peritonitis which is the infection of the entire abdominal cavity.
What side is your appendix on female and what side is your appendix on male?
As a male, if you have a sharp and persistent pain in the lower abdomen, near the navel or further to the right side, go to the Emergency Room. The location of the appendix can also vary, especially in children and pregnant women.
Other worrying signs also argue for appendicitis like fever or vomiting. In this case, you should also go to the hospital where you will generally be given three things:
You will be examined clinically to check for pain, look for a surgical belly, your urine will be analyzed: a urinary tract infection can mimic appendicitis.
When the diagnosis of appendicitis is confirmed, the recommended treatment is appendectomy. The classic surgical operation involves removing the appendix through an incision of a few centimeters near the right side or by laparoscopy, making three incisions of a few millimeters, and inserting a small camera.
But surgery is no longer the only therapy, antibiotic therapy is getting success. Soon antibiotics may be enough!
