LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Appendicitis: Cases
built 642 days ago
The inability to visualize the normal appendix is classically considered a major weakness of using US in the assessment of patients suspected of having appendicitis, because it represents a serious limitation to confidently excluding the diagnosis of appendicitis (5). In their state-of-the-art article, Birnbaum and Wilson (9) claimed that in their experience and in that of others (11,15), a normal appendix is visualized in only 0%–4% of cases in the adult population, regardless of the US technique used, and they stated that the results of Rioux (12), who visualized a normal appendix in 82% of patients without acute appendicitis, were "amazing."
Source:
Surgery may last from 15 minutes in typical appendicitis in thin patients to several hours in complicated cases. Hospital lengths of stay usually range from overnight to a matter of days (rarely weeks in complicated cases.) The pain is not always constant, in some cases it can stop for a day and then come back.
Source:
Many cases of appendicitis have atypical symptoms, and many patients with the typical symptoms actually have other disorders. So, if appendicitis is suspected, a surgeon should be consulted immediately.If the surgeon suspects appendicitis, an operation will be recommended. At Dekalb Surgical Associates, most cases of suspected appendicitis are managed with laparoscopy. This procedure involves placing a scope with an attached television camera into the navel. The appendix can be easily visualized, and if inflamed, it can usually be removed without the traditional three to five inch long incision. For the typical patient, the hospital stay is less than twenty four hours, though more complicated cases will require longer stays.
Source:
Appendiceal rupture accounts for a majority of the complications of appendicitis. Factors that increase the rate of perforation are delayed presentation to medical care,17 age extremes (young and old)18 and hidden location of appendix.6 A brief period of in-hospital observation (less than six hours) in equivocal cases does not increase the perforation rate and may improve diagnostic accuracy.18
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Cases