This is how the symptoms of appendicitis differ from irritation of the colon
The difficulty in the diagnosis of appendicitis is that the symptoms hardly differ from those of appendicitis. In both clinical pictures the leading symptom is a pain in the right lower abdomen. It is also known that symptoms such as loss of appetite, nausea or vomiting are equally present in both diseases of the appendix and therefore do not allow a differentiation.
With the symptom fever, it can be assumed that appendicitis is more pronounced than appendicitis due to the inflammatory processes in the body. However, not every appendicitis is accompanied by a fever and a fever can also be present in the case of appendicitis. From the symptomatology a distinction is therefore only possible in a few cases. More important are the clinical course of the symptoms and further diagnostics, such as blood sampling and sonography.
How do I recognize the symptoms of appendicitis in a child?
In children, the distinction between appendicitis and appendicitis based on symptoms is even more difficult than in adults. Especially small children do not show the typical symptoms of both diseases. For example, diarrhea in small children can also be a sign of appendicitis.
On the other hand, in children appendicitis is the most common cause of an acute abdomen. Since an acute abdomen can lead to significant complications, the exclusion of appendicitis in children is essential. Waiting for the course of the disease should only be done under medical supervision. In addition, a blood sample should be taken or a sonography performed to rule out appendicitis in children. This topic might also be of interest to you:
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What are the symptoms of a ruptured appendix?
In the course of the inflammation there is a strong swelling of the appendix. If the inflammation remains undetected or untreated for a long time, the massively swollen and inflamed tissue may rupture – burst. Signs of bursting of the appendix are mainly found in the course of pain.
Appendicitis usually begins with pain in the upper middle abdomen, together with malaise, nausea and loss of appetite. Over time, the pain then moves from the upper abdomen to the right lower abdomen, where it finds its highest intensity.Even slight touches in the right lower abdomen are often no longer tolerable, even straight standing or walking is usually no longer possible. If the appendix bursts, a sudden improvement of the symptoms occurs, the feeling of pressure and pain in the lower abdomen is usually significantly reduced or even non-existent.
This is a critical point, because many patients think at this moment that they have overstretched the worst and are on the road to recovery. Unfortunately, exactly the opposite is the case, the rupture initially relieves the inflamed tissue and thereby relieves the pain, but now bacteria from the intestine can enter the abdomen and lead to a severe inflammation of the entire abdomen. After initial pain relief, strong pain and fever that covers the entire abdomen occurs within a few hours. The abdomen becomes as hard as a board and every touch and shake causes severe pain.
