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Appendicitis

By Raising Children Network
 
 

The appendix is a small finger-like tube that grows out of the large bowel. When it gets inflamed, it’s called appendicitis. If you think your child has appendicitis, you should get her to the doctor or hospital straight away.

Causes

Appendicitis is an inflammation of the appendix. We don’t know what causes it. One theory is that if food or poo gets stuck in the appendix, it can cause a blockage, which can then get infected with bacteria.

We also don’t really know why we have an appendix. It plays no role in digestion. It might just be a body part left over from human evolution.

Symptoms

Appendicitis occurs more often in older children and children in the early years of adolescence.

The primary symptom is pain in the tummy. This pain usually starts in the middle of your child’s belly and might feel like a dull cramp. Over the next few hours, the pain becomes sharper. Sometimes the the pain can shift from being all over the tummy to the lower right side of the belly, over the appendix.

Your child might be more uncomfortable when he’s trying to sit upright or walk straight. The pain will often get worse when he moves. Your child might also have fever, vomiting, and/or loose poo. 

Appendicitis can be more difficult to diagnose in children than in adolescents or adults because the symptoms aren’t as clear.

When to see your doctor

There’s always a risk of the inflamed appendix ‘perforating’ and releasing pus into the abdomen. This isn’t very common, but can be life-threatening.

If your child is extremely unwell and even a small amount of movement causes pain, take her directly to a hospital.

Tests

Your doctor might ask your child to do a urine test to rule out a urinary tract infection, which can look a lot like appendicitis. Your child might also need a blood test to see whether there’s evidence of inflammation somewhere in his body.

If your doctor suspects acute appendicitis, you might be advised to take your child to hospital immediately, before requesting any tests.

Treatment

Surgery to remove the inflamed appendix is the only treatment for appendicitis.

As noted above, the appendix doesn’t seem to have a function in food digestion or absorption. If it’s taken out, your child won’t miss it.

 
 
 
  • Last updated23-06-2011
  • Last reviewed09-05-2011
References

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    Aiken, J.J., & Oldham, K. (2007). Acute appendicitis. In R. Kliegman, R. Behrman, H. Jenson & B. Stanton (Eds), Nelson textbook of pediatrics (18th edn, pp. 1628-1634). Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier.

    Sundaram, S., Hoffenberg, E., Kramer, R., Sondheimer, J.M., & Furuta, G.T. (2009). Gastrointestinal tract. In W. Hay, M. Levin, J. Sondheimer & R. Deterding (Eds), Current diagnosis and treatment: Pediatrics (19th edn, pp. 595-630). New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Royal Children’s Hospital (2011). Clinical Practice Guidelines: Abdominal pain. Retrieved April 17, 2011, from http://www.rch.org.au/clinicalguide/cpg.cfm?doc_id=5036#appendicitis.

    Royal Children’s Hospital (2011). Appendicitis (1): Infected appendix. Retrieved April 17, 2011, from http://www.rch.org.au/kidsinfo/factsheets.cfm?doc_id=9454.

    Royal Children’s Hospital (2011). Appendicitis (2): Removing the appendix. Retrieved April 17, 2011, from http://www.rch.org.au/kidsinfo/factsheets.cfm?doc_id=9455

    Victorian Government Department of Health. (2011). Appendicitis. Retrieved April 17, 2011, from http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Appendicitis?open.

    Children, Youth and Women’s Health Service. (2011). Abdominal Pain. Retrieved on 17 April 2011, from http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails.aspx?p=114&np=301&id=1481.

    Lee, S.L., Islam, S., Cassidy, L.D., Abdullah, F., & Arca, M.J.; 2010 American Pediatric Surgical Association Outcomes and Clinical Trials Committee. (2010). Antibiotics and appendicitis in the pediatric population: an American Pediatric Surgical Association Outcomes and Clinical Trials Committee systematic review. Journal of Pediatric Surgery, 45(11), 2181-5.

    Doria, A.S. (2009). Optimizing the role of imaging in appendicitis. Pediatric Radiology, 39, S144-8.

    Ebell, M.H. (2008). Diagnosis of appendicitis: part 1. History and physical examination. American Family Physician, 77(6), 828-30.

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