What are the treatment options for appendicitis?

Doctors typically treat appendicitis with surgery to remove the appendix. Surgeons perform the surgery in a hospital with general anesthesia. Your doctor will recommend surgery if you have continuous abdominal pain and fever, or signs of a burst appendix and infection.

What is the pathophysiology of appendicitis?

Reportedly, appendicitis is caused by obstruction of the appendiceal lumen from a variety of causes (see Etiology). Independent of the etiology, obstruction is believed to cause an increase in pressure within the lumen.

How is appendicitis surgery performed?

Surgeons perform the surgery in a hospital with general anesthesia. Your doctor will recommend surgery if you have continuous abdominal pain and fever, or signs of a burst appendix and infection. Prompt surgery decreases the chance that your appendix will burst.

How do you recover from appendicitis surgery?

Surgeons use laparotomy to remove the appendix through a single incision in the lower right area of your abdomen. After surgery, most patients completely recover from appendicitis and don’t need to make changes to their diet, exercise, or lifestyle.

Some mild cases of appendicitis can be treated completely with fluids and antibiotics. The most common next step is surgery, known as an appendectomy. Removing the appendix decreases the risk of it rupturing.

What is appendicitis?

Appendicitis occurs when the appendix becomes blocked, often by stool, a foreign body, or cancer. Blockage may also occur from infection, since the appendix can swell in response to any infection in the body.

What tests are used to rule out appendicitis?

A pregnancy test may be performed for women of childbearing age to rule out ectopic pregnancy and before x-rays are obtained. Laparoscopy. A diagnostic laparoscopy may be used to rule out acute appendicitis in equivocal cases.

What documentation is needed for appendicitis?

The focus of documentation in patients with appendicitis should include: Client’s description of response to pain. Acceptable level of pain. Prior medication use. Results of laboratory tests. Surgical site. Signs and symptoms of infectious process. Recent or current antibiotic therapy. Plan of care. Teaching plan.