30/08/2024
My eldest had appendicitis this week, operated on early and recovering well. I was fortunate enough to have years of acute paediatric skills and experince to identify if his early abdominal pain was concerning or not.
My kids tend to not come near me cause they get very little sympathy from me as a ‘doctor daddy’ 🙈 - apparently they tell me I look after other children better than my own 😂
So I’m going to let them help you by sharing my eldest child’s clinical signs.
Paediatricians receive many referrals for abdominal pain in case it is appendicitis or something else that is concerning. If any abdominal pain concerns you - please get assessed!
But typically, the appendix causes problems when it starts getting inflamed or infected, resulting in potential infection of the surrounding abdominal cavity. Identifying this early and preventing this progressing is the key.
REBOUND TENDERNESS - this is a relatively simple examination that can be done at home. Pain normally occurs when you press into the tummy of a child with tummy pain, but if you press into the lower right side of the tummy (an area called ‘McBurney’s point’) and let go quickly - this can cause more pain aka ‘rebound tenderness’ which is a sign of potential abdominal cavity inflammation/infection.
You don’t always have to have a fever with appendicitis but temperature checking and blood tests help with working out the diagnosis as well as the pattern of abdominal pain and possible ultrasound scans of the abdomen in some cases - there is no such thing as ‘an appendicitis test’
Hope this helps someone; but remember - any symptoms that concern you - seek medical advice/assessment as not all acute tummy pain = appendicitis
