Appendicitis is a relatively common medical problem if you go to a surgical ward. General surgeons treat them everyday. But when it comes to getting appendicitis and getting treated, this can be quite nasty as times, specially if things get complicated. So in this article we'll look at how common is appendicits, how someone could present with it and what are the treatment modalities available.
Even though I said it is relatively common, current incidence is around 150 for 100,000 person years in Europe.
Symptoms that you might have if you are having appendicitis,
- Abdominal pain that starts around your belly button and then migrates towards the right lower part of your abdomen. This might be different depending on your body habitus as well as if you are pregnant.
- Feeling Sick and nauseous
- Poor appetite - Anorexia
- Tenderness around the right lower part of your abdomen
- Fever
If you have any mixture of these symptoms including the abdominal pain, you should seek medical attention to exclude the possibility of appendicitis.
Your doctor will do a thorough examination and run some blood tests to confirm the diagnosis.
When in doubt your doctor may do more imaging investigations in forms of CT scan or ultrasound scan to confirm or exclude other medical conditions.
Appendicitis is common in more younger people than older individuals, thus it is common practice to confirm the diagnosis with a CT scan in a more older individuals. Also it will give an opportunity to exclude sinister pathologies like bowel cancer which can mimic these symptoms when they are close to the appendix.
In younger female patients, we tend to avoid CT scan as it results in radiation exposure which could affect fertility in this group of patients. Thus surgeons will request for an ultrasound scan to exclude other pathologies specially related to ovaries.
Check the article on Why did I get Appendicitis
Check the article on What happens in appendicectomy
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