Appendicitis is a condition where your appendix, a small pouch In your large intestine, becomes inflamed. Traditionally, all appendicitis is treated with surgery.
Scientists aren’t sure about what causes it. One theory is that a piece of food or fecal matter gets stuck inside the pouch and causes an infection. However, this has never been proven.
What we do know is that appendicitis is extremely common. Approximately 7% of Americans will get appendicitis in their lifetime.
It’s most common in teens and young adults, but people of all ages can get it
The only treatment recommended is surgery, where the appendix is removed through a small incision.
Fortunately, this is a very safe surgery with a great prognosis. One study estimated a survival rate of 99.5% for the most common type of surgery, laparoscopic appendectomy.
According to the diagnostic metric most widely used in Emergency Rooms to evaluate appendicitis, these are 5 common symptoms of appendicitis:
The most common symptom of appendicitis is abdominal pain. It often starts as a dull pain above the belly button, and progresses to a sharper pain in the lower right quadrant of your abdomen (your belly).
This refers to a specific type of tenderness: when you press down on the belly, it hurts more as the belly/skin pops back up.
Appendicitis is often accompanied by a fever higher than 99 degrees Fahrenheit.
Some patients with appendicitis can feel nauseous, but this can be caused by many other conditions.
A new study in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, shows that we may be able to treat appendicitis without surgery.
Appendicitis is a condition where your appendix, a small pouch In your large intestine, becomes inflamed. Traditionally, all appendicitis is treated with surgery.
In this study, doctors tested whether patients could be treated without surgery. Instead of surgery, Patients were given powerful antibiotics sent home: No incision, no scar, and no need for anesthesia.
Patients were then closely monitored as part of the study for any signs of recurrence.
Over the first two years, 34% of patients had a recurrence of their appendicitis and underwent surgery.
However, this held relatively steady from years 2 through 5 of the study. By Year 5, 39% of the patients had a recurrence of their appendicitis.
Of the 257 patients treated, nearly 60% remained appendicitis free after 5 years.
Antibiotics alone still won’t be able to cure appendicitis in all patients, as shown by the 40% of patients who had to return for surgical treatment.
However, many patients might just be able to get away without surgery, as well as the complications and painful recovery that comes with surgery.
There are still many questions to be answered before this becomes standard procedure in the United States, but this may be the beginning of a promising advance in medicine.
