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Surgery is necessary because there is no other treatment for appendicitis. It will be performed an appendectomy for removing the inflamed appendix. Before that, intravenous fluids will be administered to keep you well hydrated and no oral intake of food and water is allowed because this could interfere with the anesthesia and surgery.
Complications can occur if appendicitis is left untreated. The perforation of the wall is one of them, leading to a local abscess and even peritonitis which is dangerous because the entire lower abdomen will get infected. Therefore surgery must be done as soon as possible.
Bacterial infection and a consequent hindrance of the vermiform appendix, which is a tubular extension of the large intestine or the colon, is the reason behind appendicitis. Obstructed by calculus or feces the appendix bloats up. But the enlargement of the lymph nodes also adds to the improper functioning of the appendix at times. The lymph nodes create a blockage of the appendix as they press against the appendix walls. This occurs when the nodes themselves enlarge due to bacterial infection, a phenomenon not unusual in appendicitis. This blockage interrupts blood circulation and ultimately becomes fatal for the appendix. Serious complications like gangrene, sepsis and perforation of the appendix may occur due to the bacterial infection and swelling of the appendix. Surgical expulsion of the infected appendix from the body is the best treatment possible once a damaged appendix has been detected. The appendix plays no pivotal part in the human body and the vital functioning of the body remains unperturbed in spite of its removal.
The process of appendectomy is employed as the surgical treatment of appendicitis. Appendectomy is an uncomplicated operation when it comes to cases of the normal, simpler forms of appendicitis. The physical response generated by most patients undergoing operation is good and complete recovery is certain in a span of few weeks from surgery. But the likelihood of recuperation is lessened in case the treatment of the appendicitis is not undertaken on time.
The broad symptoms of appendicitis include pain which may start in your umbilical region, then move down to your lower right abdominal side, nausea, vomiting and possibly a fever. The fever is normally slight in adults, but more intense in children.
The more subtle symptoms include pain which is persistent, which is better from applied pressure, and what is referred to as rebound pressure. That is, hand pressure is applied to the area, then quickly removed. The pain is experienced on the removal of the pressure.
These symptoms can be confused with other diseases, such as kidney, gallbladder, ovary and pregnancy. They can also be confused with the start of pneumonia and rheumatoid arthritis.
Appendicitis (or epityphlitis ) is a condition characterized by inflammation of the appendix. Appendicitis begins when the opening from the appendix into the cecum becomes blocked. This rock is called a fecalith (literally, a rock of stool). The appendix is a part of the bowel that doesn't have any known use to humans. It is a small tube about 5-10cm long that is found at the end of the caecum (the small pouch near the start of the large intestine). In the United States, 1 in 15 people gets appendicitis.