How can you cause appendicitis and is it worth doing?

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Author: Alexey Shevchenko January 21, 2020 19:59 Category: Survival problems

Good day, dear fans and readers of Alexey Shevchenko’s blog “Healthy Lifestyle”. Surely most of you have had to deal with such a disease as appendicitis, and many probably still have a small scar that remains after surgery. Why is this disease so common? What should you do to avoid it? Is it possible to refuse surgery? I want to consider these and other questions in today’s article - what causes appendicitis to become inflamed.

1 What is appendicitis?
2 Who is at risk for inflammation?
3 Symptoms
4 Why does it become inflamed?
5 What can cause blockage?

Who is at risk for inflammation?

Appendicitis occurs so often that we can safely talk about a real epidemic.

It can occur at any age, and the average lifetime risk for each person of getting the disease is about 7%.

Appendicitis clearly “prefers” certain age groups. Thus, it is extremely rare in infants. But young children get it quite often. People aged 10 to 30 are at greatest risk.

It is interesting to note that in developed countries people suffer from appendicitis much more often than in developing countries. Some scientists blame this on rich foods, oversaturated with fats and sugar, but devoid of dietary fiber. Others argue that in developing countries, accurate diagnosis is not carried out - a person dies suddenly, is buried without going into details, and is simply not included in medical statistics.

Suspicion of appendicitis: clinical diagnosis

To detect acute appendicitis, you do not have to do numerous tests. It is enough to take a blood and urine test. A blood test shows how much inflammation has spread.

Typically, in patients with appendicitis, the number of leukocytes in the blood increases to 10-17 thousand per 1 mm3. After opening the appendix, the number of leukocytes exceeds the upper mark for acute appendicitis and means the occurrence of peritonitis.

If the number of blood leukocytes exceeds the norm for the inflamed appendix and the initial signs of the disease, the presence of other diseases is assumed, for which additional tests are performed.

A blood test for suspected appendicitis takes into account the state of the leukocyte formula of the blood, which shifts to the left. This means that there are more young white blood cells in the blood than in a healthy state.

Urinalysis reveals the content of red blood cells, which can occur with kidney stones.

After examining biological fluids, the patient may be referred for additional X-ray examination. An X-ray examination should be carried out when the anamnesis is collected superficially and the symptoms do not clearly define the disease.

Symptoms

The disease is so common that in many cases the correct diagnosis can be made without even seeing a doctor. The complex of symptoms includes:

pain in the right lower abdomen - it can be severe, or, on the contrary, dull, aching;
nausea, vomiting;
low temperature;
the abdomen may become hard or swollen.

Appendicitis can be acute or chronic. In the first case, treatment is surgical, and the operation must be done urgently. In chronic cases, the help of a surgeon is not needed, and treatment can be carried out without surgery.

Why does it become inflamed?

This question has plagued both doctors and patients for many decades. But if you answer the question “how to understand what is inflamed?” quite simply, then the question “why?” There is still no clear answer. Perhaps it is not there, because the list of reasons leading to the development of appendicitis is simply huge. Here are some of the most common:

blockage of the lumen (obturation), as a result of which microorganisms present in the appendix cause first inflammation and then necrosis of the appendix;
complication of infectious diseases (tuberculosis, influenza, parasitic infection);
psychosomatics - that is, constant negative emotions are gradually transformed into physical illnesses, and very often into appendicitis;
a complication of systemic vasculitis - that is, inflammation of the blood vessels.

Several are not allowed for appendicitis

Until the emergency doctor has made a diagnosis, appendicitis should not be completely suspected. If you still have time, you can monitor the development of symptoms in order to be more likely to believe in inflammation of the appendix.

At high temperatures, the wait-and-see attitude should be kept to a minimum. Before the ambulance arrives, you need to learn several rules, violation of which will aggravate the situation and cause complications.

If you suspect appendicitis, you should not do the following:

take painkillers, as the picture of pain is blurred, and this is the main symptom if there is a suspicion of developing appendicitis;
take laxatives so as not to irritate the already inflamed intestines;
eat food and drink drinks before the doctor arrives and examines you;
apply a hot heating pad, the inflammation only intensifies;
delay calling an ambulance even when the pain has gradually subsided;
give an enema due to increasing pressure on the intestines and the danger of opening the appendix with subsequent progression of peritonitis.

What can cause blockage?

Obstruction of the appendix can occur for a variety of reasons.

Fecal stones – they account for more than 35% of all cases.
We have all heard that stones can form in the gallbladder and kidneys. But in fact, the process of stone formation can occur in almost any part of the body, including the intestines.
Fecal stones (coprolites or fecalites) form when the intestinal flora of the cecum does not function properly. This leads to constant constipation, small stones gradually grow and completely block the appendix. And then inflammation develops.
Foreign bodies.
What amazing things surgeons did not extract from the long-suffering appendices of some patients. The palm belongs to grape seeds, chicken and fish bones, and sunflower seed husks.
Gallstones can also cause blockages. Sometimes a stone manages to squeeze through the gallbladder duct, but on its way out it can “fall through” into the appendix and get stuck in its lumen. Inflammation will not take long to occur.
More rare cases include a person's own teeth and dental crowns, coins, paper clips, small children's toys (from the group that has the warning “Do not give to children under three years old”).
Parasites.
In the last century, roundworms breeding in the intestines very often led to intestinal obstruction and appendicitis. Nowadays, such cases have become much less common, but they still happen.
Read also: Enlarged pancreas: causes, symptoms and treatment. Pathologies of the head of the pancreas and causes of local enlargement
Bend of the process caused by other diseases. Diseases such as chronic cholecystitis, colitis, enteritis and a number of others lead to the formation of scars and changes in the position of internal organs. As a result, the appendix persistently moves from its place, and its lumen becomes blocked.

Here are the most common causes of appendicitis. I hope, dear readers, this information was useful. After all, whoever is forewarned is forearmed. It is my sincere wish that none of you will ever have to put this knowledge into practice. And of course, never swallow grape seeds and be careful when eating fish.

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How to behave when visiting an emergency doctor?

Even with obvious signs of inflammation of the appendix, the doctor must first examine the patient and collect anamnesis. It is advisable to describe the time of onset of the first pain, the entire nature of the development of symptoms. The doctor must definitely feel the patient’s abdomen to find out at what stage the inflammation is and the degree of integrity of the appendix.

The pain that occurs during palpation clarifies the clinical picture for the doctor. In some cases, the doctor may examine the peritoneum through the rectum. The rest of the diagnosis is carried out in the clinic where the patient is sent.