Here is how you can detect appendicitis in a child

Appendicitis is particularly common in children. The symptoms are not always clear and it can be difficult to diagnose the disease. The main symptoms are usually pain and sensitivity to touch in the child’s right lower abdomen.

When the disease begins, the pain can also be felt higher or around the navel. Often the parents notice that the child is less active and may refuse to eat. Jumping around and in the further course of the disease even walking is no longer possible due to the pain.

Nausea and vomiting can also occur. Some children with appendicitis also develop fever. However, even in connection with abdominal pain, this is not yet proof of the disease and on the other hand, it cannot be ruled out even at normal body temperature. In addition, the symptoms of appendicitis are often not clear but rather unspecific. Therefore, if the child has abdominal pain for several hours or behaves in an unusual way, a doctor should be consulted as soon as possible.

These tests can detect appendicitis

There are certain tests that can give evidence of appendicitis. These are also carried out during a medical examination when the doctor suspects that appendicitis may be present. However, none of these tests will confirm the diagnosis, as they may also be positive for other causes.

On the other hand, appendicitis cannot be ruled out with certainty, even if all tests are negative. In most tests, pressure is applied by hand to a point on the abdomen of a patient lying on his back as relaxed as possible. – For example, there is the Lanz point, which is located on an imaginary line between the upper two bony extensions of the iliac crest.

The McBurney point is located on a line between the upper right bony extension of the iliac crest and the navel. – In Blumberg’s sign, the examiner presses in the area of the left lower abdomen for about one minute, only to suddenly release. This test is positive and thus an indication of the presence of appendicitis, if a painful stimulus occurs when releasing.

A common test, especially in children, to determine whether appendicitis may be present is to let the person concerned hop on his right leg. If the appendix is inflamed, the shock of the bouncing can trigger a painful stimulus. This is especially true if the affected part of the appendix, called the appendix appendix, is located behind the actual appendix.

When attempting to jump, this position exerts a great deal of pressure, which can lead to severe pain. If a patient can hop on his right leg without any problems, appendicitis is not excluded, but at least very unlikely. Pain when hopping can have other causes besides appendicitis and should therefore be clarified.

There is no blood test that can answer the question whether appendicitis is present. Although there are some parameters that can be elevated in such an inflammation, these are unspecific and do not provide information about the place of origin of the inflammation. In addition, the blood values are often still within the normal range when appendicitis begins.

Whether this clinical picture is the most probable cause of abdominal discomfort can ultimately only be assessed by an experienced physician. Blood tests are nevertheless usually helpful, as they can support the diagnosis or, if necessary, exclude other possible clinical pictures. It is possible to visualise the appendix using ultrasound.

However, this is not always possible due to the small size of the organ and its variable position. In addition, the appendix is often overlaid by air-filled intestinal loops and cannot then be reliably seen using ultrasound. In the case of inflammation, typical patterns can appear on the appendix.

However, these are not always visible. It is therefore not possible to reliably visualise an appendicitis by ultrasound examination alone or not. It is merely a supplementary examination method which, in case of uncertainty, can influence a possible decision for an operation or for waiting. Ultimately, it must be decided on the basis of the clinical criteria of the responsible physician whether surgery is indicated. Ultimately, an inflammation of the appendix can only be proven by surgical removal of the organ.