Appendicitis

Symptoms

Symptoms of appendicitis usually start with pain in the middle of your abdomen (tummy), around your belly button. After a few hours the pain usually moves to the lower right side of your abdomen, and gets worse.

The pain may feel worse when you move, cough or press on the area. It may feel slightly better when you pull your knees up to your chest.

Some people with appendicitis do not have the usual pain symptoms. For example, you might have pain that's less severe, develops more slowly, or in a different place. This can be more likely if you're pregnant and in young children and older people.

Other symptoms of appendicitis can include:

• feeling or being sick, or loss of appetite
• a high temperature
• constipation or diarrhoea
• peeing more than usual
• sudden confusion (in older people)

If appendicitis is not treated quickly, your appendix can burst. If this happens your pain may suddenly get better for a short time. You'll then usually have severe pain that spreads to the whole of your abdomen. It may be very painful to move.

Causes

The appendix is a small pouch that's joined to your bowel in the lower right side of your abdomen (tummy).

Appendicitis happens when your appendix becomes infected and swollen. This is often caused by something getting stuck in your appendix, such as a small piece of undigested food or hard poo.

Appendicitis is common. It can happen at any age, but it's most common in children over 10 years old and young adults. It's rare in babies under 12 months old.

Diagnosis

If you have symptoms of appendicitis, a GP or hospital doctor will feel your abdomen (tummy) to check for pain and swelling.

You'll need to go to hospital for tests and treatment. Tests you may have include:

• blood tests
• testing a sample of your pee
• scans such as an ultrasound scan or CT (computed tomography) scan to check for swelling in your appendix
• a pregnancy test if there's a chance you could be pregnant

There's no test that can always show if you have appendicitis. It can be hard to diagnose because the symptoms can be similar to other conditions. Sometimes doctors will try waiting a few hours to see how your symptoms develop in hospital.

If your symptoms mean it's very likely you have appendicitis, or if your appendix may have burst, doctors may recommend surgery instead of waiting for more tests.

Treatment Options

Appendicitis is usually treated with surgery to remove your appendix (an appendectomy). You do not need your appendix, so it's not harmful to remove it.

If you need surgery, it will be done as soon as possible, but you may need to wait a few hours. The operation usually takes about an hour.

Sometimes it's possible to treat appendicitis with antibiotics rather than surgery. This may be recommended if the infection has not spread and surgery is high risk for you.

Sometimes appendicitis causes a lump where part of your abdomen and bowel stick to your appendix, called an appendix mass. If this happens you'll usually need antibiotics first, and then surgery a few weeks later if you still have symptoms.