Appendicitis is a disease resulting from inflammation of the vermiform appendage (appendix) of the rectum. The disease has a pronounced clinical picture and can only be treated surgically.
Specialists distinguish two forms of pathology: acute and chronic. The latter, in turn, is divided into catarrhal (or superficial), simple, apostematous, gangrenous, phlegmonous and ulcerative.
The first signs of appendicitis are manifested by pain in the lower abdomen (usually on the right). This is the main symptom occurring in ninety percent of all cases. In the acute form of appendicitis, many patients complain of frequent mild pain and discomfort in the gastrointestinal system. They have bloating, colic, pain in the navel. After the toilet comes a short relief, but after a while the symptoms of the disease return. Sometimes rare colic within two hours pass into a bursting constantly aching pain. At this time, the pain moves to the lower right side of the abdomen. To relieve pain, it is necessary to lie on the right side and pull the legs bent at the knees to the stomach.
Typical symptoms of appendicitis are increased pain in the abdomen with the slightest movement, when trying to cough or stand up.
Basically, pathology manifests itself on the right side, but medicine knows cases where appendicitis also occurred in the left side. In such cases, the rectal appendage is located on the left. The pain that occurs during an attack directly depends on the location of the appendix. If pain is observed in the lower abdomen or the area of the womb, then the process is in the pelvic area. When the organ is located near the medial line, signs of appendicitis are manifested by pain near the navel. Pain in the lower back, extending to the groin or right leg, indicates the location of the appendix behind the cecum.
Usually, signs of appendicitis, such as pain, are not pronounced. A person can tolerate until the process of the cecum is stretched from pus, in which case we are talking about empyema appendix. In this situation, pain is already difficult to endure. When the affected organ ruptures, the pain spreads with the spreading pus throughout the abdominal cavity.
In most patients, signs of appendicitis are manifested in the form of nausea and vomiting that occurs at the onset of inflammation. Because of this, the disease is often confused with abnormalities or disorders of the gastrointestinal system. One of the signs is the patient’s refusal to eat, this is typical for 90 percent of cases.
Thus, the following main signs of appendicitis are known:
- problems with the stool. Delayed bowel movements are observed in a third of patients, in fifteen percent there is, on the contrary, excessively loose stools ;
- tenesmus (false urge to the toilet);
- a slight increase in temperature. Fifty percent of patients in the first day the body temperature rises to 37.5 degrees. Although the fever for this disease is not characteristic, if it is not associated with complications.
The acute form of appendicitis is characterized by the development of changes observed in the first day after inflammation: stagnation of blood in the capillaries, upset lymph, swelling and hemorrhage, marginalization of leukocytes.
A person who enters a medical institution with suspected appendicitis is under the supervision of a doctor and undergoes a series of tests. If the diagnosis is confirmed, treatment is carried out through surgery.
Surgical intervention is performed by a traditional or endoscopic method. The second method is the most advanced. During the operation, a smaller incision is made, and the rehabilitation period is two to three days.