Center of excellence for Acute Appendicitis Appendix Specialist, Ahmedabad

The appendix is a long, thin pouch that’s shaped sort of a finger. It hangs down from the large intestine, which is known as the colon.

Appendicitis term is used by the doctors when the appendix gets infected and swells. There may be a stone impacted at the base of the appendix. When it happens, the appendix can burst sometimes. A burst appendix is somewhat serious condition, because it can cause infection inside the abdomen. Appendicitis can happen in children and adults. 

Symptoms can vary:

• Belly pain – In older children and teenagers, belly pain is usually the primary symptom. The pain might start around the belly button then move to the right side of the lower belly. Children also can have belly pain that gets worse with coughing or hopping.
• Vomiting
• Fever often starts after couple of days.
• Loss of appet

The doctor after examining the patient will usually advise the tests. Such as

• Blood tests
• An imaging test like an ultrasound or CT scan – Imaging tests create pictures of the inside of the body.

• The main treatment for appendicitis is surgery to remove the appendix. Surgery can be done in couple of ways:

  Open surgery – During open surgery, the doctor makes a cut within the belly near the appendix. Then he removes the appendix through the opening.

• Laparoscopic surgery – During laparoscopic surgery, the doctor makes a couple of cuts within the belly that are much smaller than cuts for open surgery. Doctor puts long, thin tools into the belly through these openings. One amongst the tools contains a camera (called a “laparoscope”) on the top, which sends pictures to a TV screen. The doctor can examine the image on the screen to understand where to cut and what to remove. Then he uses the tools to do the surgery.