Latest appendicitis Stories

Findings suggest that nonperforating appendicitis, when the appendix hasn't burst, and nonperforating diverticulitis could be similar diseases that warrant similar treatmentsAntibiotics rather than surgery may be the better treatment for cases of appendicitis in which the appendix hasn't burst, according to a new study.The study's authors say the findings suggest that nonperforating appendicitis, as the disease is called when the appendix hasn't burst, may be unrelated to perforating...

For children with a perforated appendix, early appendectomy appears to reduce the time away from normal activities and has fewer adverse events as compared to another common option, the interval appendectomy, which is performed several weeks after diagnosis, according to a report published online first in the Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The paper will appear in the June 2011 print issue of the journal."Appendicitis is the most common gastrointestinal condition...

Acute diverticulitis is the most common complication of diverticular disease, and its clinical presentation varies from mild local inflammation to full-blown perforation. After resolution of an acute episode, the best management strategy is as yet undefined, due to the risk of further episodes and the risk associated with elective surgical resection. Historically, surgical resection has been advocated after one episode of complicated diverticulitis (diverticulitis with perforation of the...

Children who live in areas with fewer pediatricians are more likely to suffer life-threatening ruptures of the appendix than those in areas with more pediatricians, even when accounting for other factors such as the number of hospitals, imaging technology, insurance coverage and the number of surgeons in an area, according to a study from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. The study's findings, based on an analysis of nearly 250,000 hospital records of children with appendicitis, are...

Delays of 12 hours or more before surgery do not appear to adversely affect 30-day outcomes among patients undergoing appendectomies for acute appendicitis, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals."Appendectomy is the most common emergent surgical procedure performed worldwide, with appendicitis accounting for approximately 1 million hospital days annually," the authors write as background information in the article....

The symptoms of appendicitis are often diffuse and it can be difficult to obtain an accurate diagnosis early in the course of the disease. It may be possible to predict the severity from a blood sample, and in this way determine the treatment on an individual basis. This is the conclusion of a thesis presented at the University of Gothenburg, sweden."We don't know what causes appendicitis. There is evidence that the cause may be multi-factorial, since some patients gets a perforated...

When CT results suggest appendicitis, but a patient's symptoms are inconsistent with the acute condition, physicians should consider a diagnosis of chronic or recurrent appendicitis and surgical treatment, according to a new study published in the online edition and July printed issue of the journal Radiology."The decision to forego surgery in these patients often results in missed appendicitis, with a possible increased risk of perforation," said study co-author Emily M. Webb,...

Preoperative computed tomography (CT) may help reduce unnecessary surgeries in women of reproductive age with suspected acute appendicitis, according to a new study appearing in the February issue of the journal Radiology."We found that rising utilization of preoperative CT over the past decade, along with advances in CT technology, coincided with a significant decrease in negative appendectomies among women 45 years and younger," said Courtney A. Coursey, M.D., a radiologist at...

Can you catch appendicitis? And if you do, is it necessarily an emergency that demands immediate surgery?Yes and no, according to a new study by UT Southwestern Medical Center surgeons and physicians.The researchers evaluated data over a 36-year period from the National Hospital Discharge Survey and concluded in a paper appearing in the January issue of Archives of Surgery that appendicitis may be caused by undetermined viral infection or infections, said Dr. Edward Livingston, chief of...

CHICAGO, Nov. 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Beverage Can Stay-Tabs Pose Swallowing Risk A new study from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center reports that beverage can stay-tabs pose a potential ingestion risk. In the 1970s, U.S. manufacturers switched to the stay-tab design after safety concerns about pull-tabs. The new study found 19 cases of stay-tab ingestion at a single institution, mainly among teenagers. Further, the study found that most ingested stay-tabs are not visible...