Signs of Appendicitis in Adults

In all cases, appendicitis is caused by obstruction of the appendiceal lumen (space plugging in a tube-like structure), there are two known causes of this blockage:

  • Plugging in an element present in the gut, such as: a small piece of hardened stool (fecalith), a hard enough food waste to cover the appendiceal orifice or foreign as grape seeds, citrus or similar.
  • Blocked by walls lymphoid swelling caused by infection with bacteria from the gut to the appendix itself or throughout the blood.

Once produced the obstruction (appendicitis edematous) in the blind spot utters intestinal bacteria that produce pus progressively (phlegmonous appendicitis), until the pressure inside the appendix increases so that one wall is weakened and drilled ( necrotic appendicitis), allowing the purulent fluid out into the abdominal cavity (peritonitis localized) and even allow drilling through the pus escape and intestinal contents (feces) to the rest of the peritoneal cavity (generalized peritonitis and fecal).

The treatment of acute appendicitis is always surgical (appendectomy) and must be early to avoid the transformation to a peritonitis which is a much more serious and which are associated with major complications.

This is a procedure performed under general anesthesia and is appropriate to initiate antibiotic coverage before beginning the intervention to decrease infectious complications. This procedure can be executed with classical technique or through laparoscopic surgery.

In the postoperative antibiotic therapy be continued in a variable length depending on the operative findings, and early mobilization is important aided by adequate analgesia. Oral feeding was restarted when intestinal motility (peristalsis) permits.