This is a relatively straight forward procedure and most commonly done with keyhole surgery.
You will be put into sleep by the anaesthetist prior to the procedure. For this procedure you will have a cannula into your arm which allows doctors to administer various drugs for you. These drugs help you sleep as well as make you not feel pain. You will have a tube down your throat to make you breath while you are unconscious. Anaesthetist will make sure that you are not woken up until the procedure is finished.
Once you are a sleep, the surgeons will make a small hole around your umbilicus and put a camera inside the tummy to have a look. Then two more keyholes are make to introduce instruments into the abdominal cavity.
Once surgeons confirm that appendix is indeed diseased by directly observing it with the camera, they will divide it and remove it safely.
Sometimes things are not as straightforward as they are described above. Occasionally appendix can be hidden underneath the bowels or adhered to parts of the bowel, requiring more dissection. At times, appendix may be perforated causing abscess formation inside the tummy. If your symptoms had been there for more than 3 days, it is likely that bowel loops and fat may have adhered to the appendix making it difficult to separate from these structures.
In the event that performing the appendectomy through keyhole surgery is no longer safe, your surgeon will make cut in your tummy to takeout the appendix. This will be explained to you when consenting for the procedure.
Occasionally you might discover that there is a tube coming out of your tummy after you wake up. this is called a drain tube. A drain tube may be required in the event that appendix is perforated and there was contamination inside the abdominal cavity. Drain will help remove any collections and precent new collections from forming inside the tummy.
If the appendicectomy was straightforward and it was done using keyhole surgery, you will be most likely discharged home on the next day. But if the appendix was ruptured or abscess formation was there, you will stay in the hospital for few days for antibiotics administration.
Any surgery that involve procedure inside the abdomen has potential to develop complications like bowel injury, infections and bleeding. Specially in the event that appendix is difficult to remove.
So if you are undergoing appendicectomy make sure you understand all these possibilities and check with your surgeon if you have any doubts.
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