Appendix Treatment
How is appendicitis treated?
Once a diagnosis of appendicitis is made, an appendectomy usually is performed. Antibiotics almost always are begun prior to surgery and as soon as appendicitis is suspected.
Once a diagnosis of appendicitis is made, an appendectomy usually is performed. Antibiotics almost always are begun prior to surgery and as soon as appendicitis is suspected.
Appendectomy is the surgical removal of the appendix. This procedure is most often performed as an emergency operation. In some patients undergoing abdominal surgery for another reason, may have their appendix removed prophylactically so that appendicitis does not develop in the future; this option can be discussed with your surgeon.
The majority of appendectomy operations are typically emergency surgeries so the patient needs to follow the instructions given by the surgeon. In general, the patient is advised not to eat food, although with the symptoms, they are usually not hungry anyway. The patient may be treated with medications to reduce or eliminate nausea and vomiting; IV antibiotics may also be initiated before surgery.
Appendectomy is most often done in the operating room after the patient's skin has been shaved to remove hair and swabbed with a germ killing solution; sterility precautions are taken to prevent infection. The appendix may be removed by an open method or the laparoscopic technique. The open method requires a 2 to 3 inch incision in the lower right–hand side of the abdomen to remove the appendix, while the laparoscopic method uses several small incisions in the abdomen and the use of a laparoscope to visualize and then remove the appendix.
The recovery time for an appendectomy is variable and depends on the type of the procedure, type of anesthesia, and any complications that may have developed. For example, laparoscopic appendectomy may be done on an outpatient basis so that the patient can be discharged to recover at home, while an open method may require an overnight stay or an even longer time to be discharged to go home. Normal activities can resume in a few days but full recovery may take 4 to 6 weeks during which time strenuous activity should be avoided.
For most individuals there are no long-term consequences of removing the appendix. However, some individuals may have an increased risk of developing an incisional hernia, stump appendicitis (infections due to a retained portion of the appendix), and bowel obstruction.
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Appendicitis is an inflammation of the appendix. Appendicitis often causes sings and symptoms such as abdominal pain in the lower right quadrant, nausea, vomiting, abdominal tenderness, fever, and loss of appetite.
Delay in surgery can result in appendix rupture with potentially serious complications.
Nausea is an uneasiness of the stomach that often precedes vomiting. Nausea and vomiting are not diseases, but they are symptoms of many conditions. There are numerous cases of nausea and vomiting. Some causes may not require medical treatment, for example, motion sickness, and other causes may require medical treatment by a doctor, for example, heart attack, lung infections, bronchitis, and pneumonia.
Some causes of nausea and vomiting may be life-threatening, for example, heart attack, abdominal obstruction, and cancers.
Treatment of nausea and vomiting depends upon the cause.