Appendicitis happens when your appendix becomes inflamed. It can be acute or chronic.
In the United States, appendicitis is the most common cause of abdominal pain resulting in surgery. Over 5 percent of Americans experience it at some point in their lives.
If left untreated, appendicitis can cause your appendix to burst. This can cause bacteria to spill into your abdominal cavity, which can be serious and sometimes fatal.
Read on to learn more about the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment for appendicitis.
If you have appendicitis, you may experience one or more of the following symptoms:
- pain in your upper abdomen or around your bellybutton
- pain in the lower right side of your abdomen
- loss of appetite
- indigestion
- nausea
- vomiting
- diarrhea
- constipation
- abdominal swelling
- inability to pass gas
- low-grade fever
Appendicitis pain may start off as mild cramping. It often becomes more steady and severe over time. It may start in your upper abdomen or bellybutton area, before moving to the lower right quadrant of your abdomen.
If you’re constipated and you suspect that you may have appendicitis, avoid taking laxatives or using an enema. These treatments may cause your appendix to burst.
Contact your doctor if you have tenderness in the right side of your abdomen along with any of other symptoms of appendicitis. Appendicitis can quickly become a medical emergency.
In many cases, the exact cause of appendicitis is unknown. Experts believe it develops when part of the appendix becomes obstructed, or blocked.
Many things can potentially block your appendix, including:
- a buildup of hardened stool
- enlarged lymphoid follicles
- intestinal worms
- traumatic injury
- tumors
When your appendix becomes blocked, bacteria can multiply inside it. This can lead to the formation of pus and swelling, which can cause painful pressure in your abdomen.
If your doctor suspects you might have appendicitis, they will perform a physical exam. They will check for tenderness in the lower right part of your abdomen and swelling or rigidity.
Depending on the results of your physical exam, your doctor may order one or more tests to check for signs of appendicitis or rule out other potential causes of your symptoms.
There’s no single test available to diagnose appendicitis. If your doctor can’t identify any other causes of your symptoms, they may diagnose the cause as appendicitis.
Complete blood count
To check for signs of infection, your doctor may order a complete blood count (CBC). To conduct this test, they will collect a sample of your blood and send it to a lab for analysis.
Appendicitis is often accompanied by bacterial infection. An infection in your urinary tract or other abdominal organs may also cause symptoms similar to those of appendicitis.
Urine tests
To rule out urinary tract infection or kidney stones as a potential cause of your symptoms, your doctor may use urinalysis. This is also known as a urine test.
Your doctor will collect a sample of your urine that will be examined in a lab.
Pregnancy test
Ectopic pregnancy can be mistaken for appendicitis. It happens when a fertilized egg implants itself in a fallopian tube, rather than the uterus. This can be a medical emergency.
Pelvic exam
If you’re female, your symptoms might be caused by pelvic inflammatory disease, an ovarian cyst, or another condition affecting your reproductive organs.
To examine your reproductive organs, your doctor may perform a pelvic exam.
During this exam, they will visually inspect your vagina, vulva, and cervix. They will also manually inspect your uterus and ovaries. They may collect a sample of tissue for testing.
Abdominal imaging tests
To check for inflammation of your appendix, your doctor might order imaging tests of your abdomen. This can also help them identify other potential causes of your symptoms, such as an abdominal abscess or fecal impaction.
Your doctor may order one or more of the following imaging tests:
- abdominal ultrasound
- abdominal X-ray
- abdominal CT scan
- abdominal MRI scan
In some cases, you might need to stop eating food for a period of time before your test. Your doctor can help you learn how to prepare for it.
Depending on your condition, your doctor’s recommended treatment plan for appendicitis may include one or more of the following:
- surgery to remove your appendix
- needle drainage or surgery to drain an abscess
- antibiotics
- pain relievers
- IV fluids
- liquid diet
In rare cases, appendicitis may get better without surgery. But in most cases, you will need surgery to remove your appendix. This is known as an appendectomy.
If you have an abscess that hasn’t ruptured, your doctor may treat the abscess before you undergo surgery. To start, they will give you antibiotics. Then they will use a needle to drain the abscess of pus.
To treat appendicitis, your doctor may use a type of surgery known as appendectomy. During this procedure, they will remove your appendix. If your appendix has burst, they will also clean out your abdominal cavity.
In some cases, your doctor may use laparoscopy to perform minimally invasive surgery. In other cases, they may have to use open surgery to remove your appendix.
Like any surgery, there are some risks associated with appendectomy. However, the risks of appendectomy are smaller than the risks of untreated appendicitis.
Acute appendicitis is a severe and sudden case of appendicitis. The symptoms tend to develop quickly over the course of one to two days .
It requires immediate medical treatment. If left untreated, it can cause your appendix to rupture. This can be a serious and even fatal complication.
Acute appendicitis is more common than chronic appendicitis.
Chronic appendicitis is less common than acute appendicitis. In chronic cases of appendicitis, the symptoms may be relatively mild. They may disappear before reappearing again over a period of weeks, months, or even years.
This type of appendicitis can be challenging to diagnose. Sometimes, it’s not diagnosed until it develops into acute appendicitis.
Chronic appendicitis can be dangerous.
An estimated 70,000 children experience appendicitis every year in the United States. Although it’s most common in people between the ages of 15 and 30 years old, it can develop at any age.
In children and teenagers, appendicitis often causes a stomachache near the navel. This pain may eventually become more severe and move to the lower right side of your child’s abdomen.
Your child may also:
- lose their appetite
- develop a fever
- feel nauseous
- vomit
If your child develops symptoms of appendicitis, contact their doctor right away.
Your recovery time for appendicitis will depend on multiple factors, including:
- your overall health
- whether or not you develop complications from appendicitis or surgery
- the specific type of treatments you receive
If you have laparoscopic surgery to remove your appendix, you may be discharged from the hospital a few hours after you finish surgery or the next day.
If you have open surgery, you will likely need to spend more time in the hospital to recover afterward. Open surgery is more invasive than laparoscopic surgery and typically requires more follow-up care.
Before you leave the hospital, your healthcare provider can help you learn how to care for your incision sites. They may prescribe antibiotics or pain relievers to support your recovery process. They may also advise you to adjust your diet, avoid strenuous activity, or make other changes to your daily habits while you heal.
It may take several weeks for you to fully recover from appendicitis and surgery. If you develop complications, your recovery may take longer.
There’s no sure way to prevent appendicitis. But you might be able to lower your risk of developing it by eating a fiber-rich diet. Although more research is needed on the potential role of diet, appendicitis is less common in countries where people eat high-fiber diets.
Foods that are high in fiber include:
- fruits
- vegetables
- lentils, split peas, beans, and other legumes
- oatmeal, brown rice, whole wheat, and other whole grains
Your doctor may also encourage you to take a fiber supplement.
Contact your doctor right away if you experience symptoms of appendicitis. It’s a serious condition that requires medical treatment. And it’s not safe to rely on home remedies to treat it.
If you undergo surgery to remove your appendix, your doctor may prescribe antibiotics and pain relievers to support your recovery. In addition to taking medications as prescribed, it may help to:
- get lots of rest
- drink plenty of fluids
- go for a gentle walk each day
- avoid strenuous activity and lifting heavy objects until your doctor says it’s safe to do so
- keep your surgical incision sites clean and dry
In some cases, your doctor might encourage you to adjust your diet. If you’re feeling nauseous after surgery, it might help to eat bland foods such as toast and plain rice. If you’re constipated, it might help to take a fiber supplement.
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