What Is the Appendix?
The appendix is a narrow tube-shaped pouch protruding from your large intestine. It's up to six inches long and located in the lower right side of your abdomen. You do not need your appendix to live. In fact, its purpose is poorly understood.
When your appendix becomes inflamed, it's called appendicitis. The exact cause of appendicitis is not always clear. Sometimes, the appendix fills with mucus, parasites, or stool, which causes irritation. Bacteria can quickly multiply within an inflamed appendix. If it bursts, it can spread bacteria within the abdomen (peritonitis). The resulting infection can cause abscesses to form.
A ruptured appendix is a life-threatening situation (healthline, 2014).
Signs and symptoms of appendicitis may include:
1. Sudden pain that begins on the right side of the lower abdomen, Typically, symptoms begin as periumbilical or epigastric pain migrating to the right lower quadrant (RUQ) of the abdomen.
2. Sudden pain that begins around your navel and often shifts to your lower right abdomen. Some people, including children and pregnant women, may experience pain in different areas of their abdomen or on their side (health, 2014).
3. Pain that worsens if you cough, walk or make other jarring movements.
4. Nausea and vomiting.
5. Loss of appetite "anorexia"
6.Fever
7. Constipation or diarrhea
8. Abdominal Blating
* According Uptodate, 2016 In many patients, initial features are atypical or nonspecific, and can include:
● Indigestion
● Flatulence
● Bowel irregularity
● Diarrhea
● Generalized malaise
* The duration of symptoms is less than 48 hours in approximately 80% of adults but tends to be longer in elderly persons and in those with perforation. Approximately 2% of patients report duration of pain in excess of 2 weeks. A history of similar pain is reported in as many as 23% of cases, but this history of similar pain, in and of itself, should not be used to rule out the possibility of appendicitis (medscape, 2015).
* The site of your pain may vary, depending on your age and the position of your appendix. When you're pregnant, the pain may seem to come from your upper abdomen because your appendix is higher during pregnancy (mayoclinic, 2014).
* The most common complications of appendicitis are rupture, abscess, and peritonitis. and complications of appendectomy include wound infection and abscess. (medicinenet, 2015).
References:
- http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/773895-clinical.
- http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/appendicitis/basics/symptoms/con-20023582.
- http://www.healthline.com/health/digestive-health/appendicitis-emergency-symptoms#Signs&Symptoms2.
- http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20552994_2,00.html.
- http://www.medicinenet.com/appendicitis/article.htm.
- http://www.uptodate.com/contents/acute-appendicitis-in-adults-clinical-manifestations-and-differential-diagnosis?source=search_result&search=appendicitis&selectedTitle=3~150.
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