How To Find Out If You Have Appendicitis

Appendicitis

What Is Appendicitis?

Appendicitis is an inflammation of the appendix. It's a medical emergency that almost always requires surgery as soon equally possible to remove the appendix. Luckily, you tin can live simply fine without it.

appendix

Where Is Your Appendix?

This 3 1/2-inch-long tube of tissue extends from your large intestine on the lower correct side of your body. The appendix has specialized tissue that can make antibodies, simply no one is completely sure what its function is.

What Causes Appendicitis?

In the U.Due south., ane in 20 people will go appendicitis at some point in their lives. Although it tin strike at any historic period, appendicitis is rare in children younger than 2. It's most likely to touch on people between the ages of x and xxx.

Appendicitis happens when the appendix gets blocked, frequently by poop, a foreign body (something inside you that isn't supposed to be there), or cancer. Blockage may also result from infection, since the appendix can swell in response to any infection in the body.

What Are the Symptoms of Appendicitis?

The archetype symptoms of appendicitis include:

Pain in your lower right abdomen or hurting almost your navel that moves lower. This is ordinarily the kickoff sign.
Loss of appetite
Nausea and vomiting soon afterwards abdomen pain begins
Bloated abdomen
Fever of 99-102 F
Can't laissez passer gas

Other less common symptoms of appendicitis include:

Dull or sharp pain anywhere in your upper or lower abdomen, back, or rear stop
Painful or difficult peeing
Vomiting before your belly hurting starts
Severe cramps
Constipation or diarrhea with gas

If you have any of these symptoms, see a physician right abroad. Timely diagnosis and treatment are of import. Don't eat, drink, or use whatever pain remedies, antacids, laxatives, or heating pads.

How Is Appendicitis Diagnosed?

Diagnosing appendicitis can be tricky. Symptoms are oftentimes unclear or similar to those of other illnesses, including gallbladder problems, bladder or urinary tract infection, Crohn's disease, gastritis, kidney stones, abdominal infection, and ovary problems.

These tests can help diagnose appendicitis:

Exam of your abdomen to look for inflammation
Urine (pee) examination to rule out a urinary tract infection
Rectal exam
Blood test to encounter whether your trunk is fighting an infection
CT scans
Ultrasound

What Is the Handling for Appendicitis?

Appendicitis is almost e'er treated equally an emergency. Surgery to remove the appendix, which is called an appendectomy, is the standard handling for almost all cases of appendicitis.

More often than not, if your doctor suspects that you have appendicitis, they will speedily remove it to avoid a rupture. If y'all accept an abscess, y'all may become ii procedures: 1 to bleed the abscess of pus and fluid, and a later one to take out the appendix. Just some research shows that treating acute appendicitis with antibiotics may assist you avoid surgery.

What to Expect During an Appendectomy

Before your appendix is taken out, y'all'll take antibiotics to fight infection. You'll commonly get general anesthesia, meaning y'all'll exist asleep for the process. The doctor removes your appendix through a 4-inch-long cut or with a device called a laparoscope (a thin telescope-like tool that lets them encounter inside your abdomen). This procedure is called laparoscopy. If you have peritonitis, the surgeon will also clean out your belly and drain the pus.

Continued

You can get upwardly and move around within 12 hours later surgery. You should be able to go back to your normal routine in 2 to 3 weeks. If you lot had a laparoscopy, recovery is faster.

Afterward an appendectomy, telephone call your doctor if you have:

Uncontrolled vomiting
Increased belly pain
Dizziness/feelings of faintness
Blood in your vomit or pee
Increased pain and redness where your physician cutting into your belly
Fever
Pus in the wound

Appendicitis Complications

Left untreated, an inflamed appendix will outburst, spilling bacteria and debris into the abdominal crenel, the central role of your body that holds your liver, breadbasket, and intestines. This tin can lead to peritonitis, a serious inflammation of the abdominal cavity'due south lining (the peritoneum). It can be deadly unless it is treated quickly with strong antibiotics and surgery to remove the pus.

Sometimes, an abscess forms exterior an inflamed appendix. Scar tissue then "walls off" the appendix from the remainder of your organs. This keeps the infection from spreading. But an abscessed appendix can tear and lead to peritonitis.

Appendicitis Prevention

In that location's no mode to prevent appendicitis. But it may be less common in people who eat foods loftier in fiber, such as fresh fruits and vegetables.