Symptoms and Sign of Appendicitis
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appendicitis appendicitis symptoms Typically, the appendicitis symptoms begins with vague midabdominal discomfort followed by nausea, anorexia, and indigestion. The pain is persistent and continuous but not severe, with occasional mild cramps. There may be an episode of vomiting, and within several hours the pain shifts to the right lower quadrant, becoming localized and causing discomfort on moving, walking, or coughing. The appendicitis patient may feel constipated. Examination at this point shows localized tenderness to one-finger palpation and perhaps slight muscular guarding. Rebound or percussion tenderness (the latter provides the same information more humanely) may be elicited in the same area. Peristalsis is normal or slightly reduced. Rectal and pelvic examinations are likely to be negative. The temperature is only slightly elevated (eg, 37.8 ?C) in the absence of perforation. Contrary to traditional teaching sign of appendicitis, tenderness on rectal examination is not a sign of acute appendicitis. If present, it more often points to another cause of the symptoms. Another common misconception is that inflammation in a retrocecal appendix produces an atypical syndrome. This too is incorrect; the clinical findings in this situation are the same as for ordinary (antececal) appendicitis. sign of appendicitis |