Appendicitis is the inflammation of the appendix. The appendix is attached to the cecum and is considered to be a part of the intestines. It measures no more than a few inches in length and looks like a thin tube. If its exit gets blocked by hardened mucus, food or stool a local infection will occur and as a response to this, an inflammation of it will be produced by the body.

Most of the parents are advised on what are the symptoms of appendicitis but they worry every time their child gets a belly pain even though the symptoms differ. It is important to know all about appendicitis in order to avoid misdiagnosing your child and getting stressed for nothing and also to know when it is necessary to go to the emergency room.

Some of the symptoms of appendicitis are: pain in the belly button area which in the end will move in the right side of the lower abdomen and will be much worse, low graded fever, nauseas and sometimes even vomiting, loss of appetite and constipation or diarrhea.

These symptoms are common to other illnesses but there is a particular sign that only appendicitis has: the nausea and vomiting begin after the abdominal pain had installed.

In very young children, these classical symptoms might not appear but other clues of appendicitis can be found. Sometimes they complain of a hip pain or they refuse to walk. After a while vomiting will appear.

Complications can occur if appendicitis is left untreated. The perforation of the wall is one of them, leading to a local abscess and even peritonitis which is dangerous because the entire lower abdomen will get infected. Perforation can occur in 15% of the cases after the first 36 hours of present symptoms. Therefore surgery must be done as soon as possible.

Another complication is the blockage of the intestine caused by the intense inflammation which stops the intestinal muscle from working and so the intestinal contents will not move anymore.

A more rare complication of appendicitis is sepsis. This happens when the bacterium gets into the blood stream and is free to go to other body parts. This is a serious condition and can cause even death, but luckily for us it is quite rare nowadays.

Generally appendicitis occurs in 10 to 30 aged patients.

There can be made tests to see exactly if you have appendicitis or not. A white blood cell count will be performed along with a urine test. Even abdominal CT or ultrasound can be performed by the doctor if he has doubts about your appendicitis.