Appendicitis is a medical emergency that requires prompt treatment. Doctors diagnose it through physical exams, imaging, and laboratory tests. Symptoms include severe pain, nausea, vomiting, constipation, and fever. Treatment is usually surgical removal of the infected area.
Appendicitis is one of the medical emergencies that requires prompt treatment. Doctors usually diagnose appendicitis after doing a thorough physical exam, along with imaging and laboratory tests. After doctors are relatively sure that a patient has appendicitis, they are often rushed in for surgery to remove the infected area.
After a patient begins experiencing the signs of appendicitis, doctors recommend seeking medical attention as soon as possible. Pain is often one of the most common signs of appendicitis. This pain is usually quite severe and begins around the center of the abdomen, before progressing to the lower right side. Nausea, vomiting, constipation and fever are other common symptoms of appendicitis.
The first step when doctors try to diagnose appendicitis is usually a physical exam. During this exam, a doctor will often feel tender or swollen areas of the abdomen. In addition to pressing on the right side, applying pressure to the left side of the abdomen can also cause pain on the right side in patients with appendicitis.
When trying to diagnose appendicitis, doctors will also look for something called an obturator sign. Pain on the right side of the abdomen can often be felt when an individual lies down, bends their right knee, and moves it from side to side. This pain occurs because the right obturator muscle rises in a person’s abdomen and is in close proximity to the appendix.
Blood and urine samples may also be taken when doctors are trying to diagnose appendicitis. Blood samples may show some signs of infection, such as an elevated level of white blood cells. Urine samples are sometimes used to ensure that symptoms are not due to another medical condition.
Imaging tests are also commonly used when trying to diagnose appendicitis. Computed tomography (CT) scans are the most common scans used when diagnosing appendicitis. If a woman is pregnant, however, doctors usually use an ultrasound to produce internal images, as CT scans use radiation that could harm the fetus.
Because an inflamed appendix can burst within days of the first symptoms appearing, treatment is usually needed as soon as possible to avoid a potentially fatal infection known as peritonitis. An appendectomy, or surgical removal of infected appendicitis, is usually the recommended treatment for appendicitis. In case an individual is unable to undergo surgery, antibiotics can clear up the infection.
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