Acute appendicitis in children

Appendicitis is one of the most common diseases of the abdominal cavity, which requires urgent medical attention. It should be noted that acute appendicitis can occur at any age, nevertheless, children under the age of two years are very rarely affected by this disease. The peak incidence comes at an age from 8 to 12 years.

Acute appendicitis in children - causes of inflammation

There are many reasons for the development of the disease. Appendicitis can occur as a result of somatic inflammatory diseases that have been carried out earlier, changes in the child's diet, anomalies in the appendix, or the ingress of foreign body processes into the lumen, for example, bones, parasites, fecal stones. Provoke appendicitis can any inflammatory process in the intestines, reducing immunity and even overeating.

Acute appendicitis in children - the first signs and symptoms

In young children, the disease begins with anxiety, sleep disorders and causeless whims. After a while, as a rule, the temperature rises, nausea appears, frequent vomiting, there may be a loose stool. A feature of acute appendicitis in children is the absence of characteristic pains that occur with appendicitis in adults in the right ileal region. Usually, the child complains of increased pain in the abdomen or near the navel.

To make an accurate diagnosis and determine whether a child needs surgery, only a doctor can. Therefore, when these symptoms appear, do not take any measures, because inept home care can only exacerbate the existing inflammation and cause complication of appendicitis.

Acute appendicitis in children - treatment

Since the inflammatory process can spread to the outer layers of the process and lead to complication, this disease requires immediate surgical intervention and removal of the appendix. The most severe complication of acute appendicitis in children is perforation of the process, when the infection penetrates into the abdominal cavity and causes a general peritoneal peritonitis infection.

The development of new technologies to date allows you to avoid large incisions, the scars from which remain for life. With the modern method of treatment, a puncture of the abdominal wall, 5-6 mm in size, is performed, through which the appendix is ​​withdrawn and removed. With this method of correction of appendicitis, the patient can be discharged home within 1-2 days after the operation.