Home
+ Health
Topics with A + Appendicitis
Appendicitis
Definition
Appendicitis is inflammation of the
appendix. The appendix is a small pouch attached to
your large intestine.
Causes
Appendicitis is one of the most common
causes of emergency abdominal surgery in the United
States. Appendicitis usually occurs when the appendix
becomes blocked by feces, a foreign object, or rarely,
a tumor.
Symptoms
The symptoms of appendicitis vary.
It can be hard to diagnose appendicitis in young children,
the elderly, and women of childbearing age.
Typically, the first symptom is pain
around your belly button. (See: abdominal pain.)
The pain may be vague at first, but becomes increasingly
sharp and severe. You may have reduced appetite, nausea,
vomiting, and a low-grade fever
As the inflammation in the appendix
increases, the pain tends to move into your right lower
abdomen and focuses directly above the appendix at a
place called McBurney's
point.
If the appendix ruptures, the pain
may lessen briefly and you may feel better. However,
once the lining of the abdominal cavity becomes inflammed
and infected (a condition called peritonitis),
the pain worsens and you become sicker.
Later symptoms include:
- Chills
- Constipation
- Diarrhea
- Fever
- Loss of appetite
- Nausea
- Shaking
- Vomiting
|
