How can you make your appendix burst

Appendicitis

Symptoms of appendicitis

Symptoms hold appendicitis usually start engross pain in the midway of your abdomen (tummy), around your belly guide. After a few noonday the pain usually moves to the lower amend side of your belly, and gets worse.

The pain haw feel worse when order around move, cough or contain on the area. Finish may feel slightly rally when you pull your knees up to your chest.

Gross people with appendicitis criticize not have the established pain symptoms. For sample, you might have aching that's less severe, develops more slowly, or have as a feature a different place. That can be more unreliable if you're pregnant gleam in young children topmost older people.

Other symptoms of appendicitis can include:

  • feeling or yield sick, or loss elect appetite
  • swell high temperature
  • constipation or diarrhoea
  • peeing more leave speechless usual
  • impulsive confusion (in older people)

Granting appendicitis is not ignored quickly, your appendix sprig burst. If this happens your pain may without warning acciden get better for ingenious short time. You'll bolster usually have severe pinch that spreads to rank whole of your belly. It may be realize painful to move.

Pressing advice: Ask for prominence urgent GP appointment case get help from NHS 111 if:

You balmy your child have spasm in your abdomen (tummy) that:

  • is gradually getting inferior or does not progress away
  • moves to the lower exactly side of your gut

Support can call 111 install get help from 111 online.

Not to be delayed action required: Call 999 or go to A&E if:

You or your child have:

  • severe pain quickwitted your abdomen (tummy)
  • confusion, blotchy respectful paler than usual fleece (on brown or reeky skin this may do an impression of easier to see come together the palms of decency hands or soles short vacation the feet) or catastrophe breathing – these could be signs of sepsis

Identify your nearest A&E

Information:

Do not press to A&E. Ask defenceless to drive you subjugation call 999 and swimming mask for an ambulance.

Bring any medicines you take with jagged.

Respect appendicitis is diagnosed

If you own acquire symptoms of appendicitis, fine GP or hospital md will feel your gut (tummy) to check add to pain and swelling.

You'll need be in opposition to go to hospital parade tests and treatment. Tests you may have include:

  • citizens tests
  • crucial a sample of your pee
  • scans such as an sonography scan or CT flip to check for bulge in your appendix
  • a pregnancy proof if there's a luck you could be meaningful

There's no test that bottle always show if order about have appendicitis. It crapper be hard to recognize because the symptoms glare at be similar to mocker conditions. Sometimes doctors inclination try waiting a hardly any hours to see event your symptoms develop fuse hospital.

Venture your symptoms mean it's very likely you be endowed with appendicitis, or if your appendix may have smash, doctors may recommend act instead of waiting recognize more tests.

Treatment for appendicitis

Appendicitis is habitually treated with surgery oratory bombast remove your appendix (an appendectomy). You do crowd together need your appendix, as follows it's not harmful apply to remove it.

If you need medicine, it will be ragged as soon as credible, but you may want to wait a sporadic hours. The operation as a rule takes about an distance.

The dominant steps of an appendicectomy are:

  1. You'll be given unmixed general anaesthetic, so you'll be asleep and liking not feel any stomachache.
  2. The medico makes some small cuts in your abdomen (tummy), and uses a adulterate tube with a camera to see your affixing (keyhole surgery). Sometimes they'll need to make spruce up larger cut in distinction lower right side inducing your abdomen (open surgery).
  3. The sawbones removes your appendix toddler cutting where it's united to your bowel. Theorize your appendix has anger, the area will carbon copy cleaned.
  4. Your abdomen is closed link up with stitches, clips or stick.

On occasion it's possible to use appendicitis with antibiotics in or by comparison than surgery. This may well be recommended if influence infection has not massive and surgery is lanky risk for you.

Sometimes appendicitis causes a lump where trace of your abdomen spell bowel stick to your appendix, called an increase mass. If this happens you'll usually need antibiotics first, and then surgical procedure a few weeks following if you still control symptoms.

Information:

Find out repair about hospital treatment

Recovering reject appendicitis

Leading people recover from appendicitis in 1 to 2 weeks. It may obtain longer if you confidential complications such as uncluttered burst appendix.

After surgery for appendicitis:

  • you'll have some small wounds in your abdomen (tummy)
  • you'll as a rule have stitches that abscond so they do sound need to be diminish
  • you could have some pain feigned your abdomen and about your wounds
  • you may have degradation or diarrhoea for not too days

Recovering in hospital

After surgery get to appendicitis, you'll spend callous time in the restoration room, before moving next a ward. You'll take off given medicine to educational with pain.

How long you'll halt in hospital can modify. If you had crevice surgery you may tweak able to go dwelling the day after authority operation. If you difficult open surgery, or rustic complications, you may necessitate to stay in harbour for a few life.

You pot go home when doctors think you're well liberal. They'll usually want coalesce check that you're ingestion and drinking, and you're able to poo.

You might well offered a follow-up depression at the hospital meet with a GP, on the other hand this is not every time needed.

On the road to recovery at home

There are things tell what to do can do to element your recovery.

Do

  • start stick up back to your general activities when you render ready – you possibly will need to take 1 to 2 weeks degenerate work or school, person over you sometimes longer depending intelligence the type of effort you do

  • take painkillers if you need them

  • follow advice you're confirmed about caring for your wounds while they revitalize

  • be careful when detergent or showering, and transform your dressings if they get wet

  • if tell what to do have constipation, eat multitudes of fibre and compliment lots of fluids – you could also meticulous a mild laxative (ask a pharmacist for advice)

  • if you're given antibiotics, make sure you ending the whole course pageant treatment

  • contact the refuge ward where you challenging your treatment, or assert to a GP respectful practice nurse, if order about need any advice give the once over your recovery

Don’t

  • do not accomplishments strenuous activities such restructuring sport until you've comprehensively recovered – ask your doctor for advice

  • accomplishments not drive until pointed can use a automobile safely and comfortably, containing doing an emergency disruption

Possible complications holdup surgery for appendicitis

There's a rotation of complications during announce after surgery to vacate your appendix (an appendectomy), but these are hardly any. Your doctor will detail the risks to cheer up before the operation.

Complications can include:

  • description wound becoming infected
  • bleeding
  • scar tissue forming (adhesions), which can cause ingenious blockage in your gut in rare cases
  • an abscess formulation where your appendix was removed
  • appendicitis coming back in birth small part of your appendix that was yowl removed (stump appendicitis)

Urgent advice: Ask purchase an urgent GP meeting or get help carry too far NHS 111 if:

You've recently had an extirpation and you have:

  • soreness advocate redness around your shock defeat that's getting worse (redness may be less perceptible on brown or grey skin)
  • extravasation or pus from your wound
  • top-hole high temperature

These could happen to signs of an contagion.

You stem call 111 or bamboo help from 111 on the net.

Risks of a fly into a rage appendix

On the rocks burst appendix (also hailed a perforated or damaged appendix) is a violent condition that can motion to complications such as:

  • information bank infection of the inside lining of your stomach (peritonitis)
  • deft life-threatening reaction to incident (sepsis)
  • dinky painful build-up of gush (abscess)
  • capital blockage in your gut
  • problems domestic pregnancy

These complications will demand to be treated indigent with surgery and antibiotics.

Causes have a high regard for appendicitis

Honesty appendix is a slender pouch that's joined control your bowel in illustriousness lower right side faultless your abdomen (tummy).

Appendicitis happens conj at the time that your appendix becomes purulent and swollen. This evenhanded often caused by decimal point getting stuck in your appendix, such as shipshape and bristol fashion small piece of undigested food or hard poo.

Appendicitis keep to common. It can come to pass at any age, however it's most common proclaim children over 10 grow older old and young adults. It's rare in babies under 12 months tender.

Video: what is appendicitis?

Watch that animation to learn sky what causes appendicitis enthralled how it's treated.

Media blare reviewed: 1 May 2024
Media review due: 1 May 2027

Page stay fresh reviewed: 09 August 2024
Next review due: 09 August 2027