A visit to the doctor and blood tests will make the diagnosis. A small outgrowth of the large intestine, most commonly located in the lower, right portion of the abdomen, the appendix has incompletely understood roles. It seems to be involved in immunity during the first years of life. At its level, lymphocytes are stored, with a role in the defense against infections.
Sometimes, this organ becomes inflamed, and in these cases the treatment is only surgical. If the intervention is delayed, there is a danger that the inflammation will become complicated with gangrene, with necrosis and with the rupture of the appendix in the peritoneal cavity. The existing infection in the peritoneum is called peritonitis and can be life-threatening.
What are the symptoms?
Most frequently, the condition is manifested by pain in the right iliac fossa (lower right part of the abdomen) and can radiate to the level of the right leg. In children, the pain frequently radiates around the navel (navel) and in the head of the chest (epigastrium). Sometimes, the appendix can have special positions, such as the subhepatic one, that is, under the liver, which makes the pain even less specific, located on the right, subcostal. The condition appears more often at ages over 10 years, but it can happen to appear in small children as well.
And because little ones don’t always know how to say what’s bothering them, parents have to take into account any change in their condition. Here are other signs that may indicate appendicitis: – nausea, vomiting – lack of appetite – constipation and/or diarrhea – drowsiness – fever or low-grade fever (temperatures of 37-38 degrees Celsius). In these situations, the parents must take the child to the doctor for a medical consultation and blood tests.
In case of appendicitis, palpation of the abdomen will reveal the painful area, and blood tests will indicate infection in the body (lymphocytes over 10,000/100 ml). In general, the triad of fever+lymphocytes over 10,000/100 ml and pain in the abdomen makes the diagnosis of appendicitis.
