Appendicitis has unusual symptoms. How can you tell if you have inflammation?

Appendicitis is a common condition that causes abdominal pain and requires surgical treatment. It can be caused by blockage of the lumen of the appendix with a calculus. It requires a quick surgical procedure, so it is important to know the characteristic and atypical symptoms of appendicitis.

Appendicitis: symptoms of unusual inflammation

It is not necessary for the disease to manifest itself as lower right abdominal pain. Appendicitis occasionally exhibits peculiar symptoms, such as

• bloating,
• feeling of indigestion,
• weakness,
• nausea or vomiting
• diarrhea,
• lack of appetite
• feeling of urgency to urinate,
• stool pressure, 
• pain in strange locations (the appendix in some people has an unusual location, e.g. behind the bladder).  

Appendicitis begins with malaise and diffuse pain in the navel area, then increases and becomes more punctual and sharper, with body temperature rising and tenderness on the right side of the abdomen.

The so-called fetal position, in which the patient lies calmly on his right side with his legs slightly bent up, relieves appendicitis pain by causing it to lessen when coughing and moving.

Appendicitis has unusual symptoms. How can you tell if you have inflammation?

Appendicitis is a serious disease that should be treated. To check if the problem is serious, press the belly into the McBurney point, slightly above the right groin. If the abdomen is tense or hard, with severe pain when pressing and releasing pressure, go to the hospital.

Appendicitis, and what next?

Even for an experienced surgeon, diagnosing appendicitis can be difficult. Especially when the symptoms are not immediately apparent. There is no problem with the disease’s diagnosis in the presence of classic symptoms: severe pain in the right iliac fossa confirms appendicitis. Blood tests are also used to make a diagnosis. An ultrasound, X-ray, or computed tomography of the abdominal cavity is performed if the appendix is in an unusual position and the symptoms raise concerns.

A hospital stay is required when appendicitis occurs. Typically, the disease is treated surgically. When antibiotic therapy is used, the exception may be a very limited inflammation with the formation of an abscess. The operation is done either traditionally (with an abdominal cavity opening) or laparoscopically. The goal of the procedure, regardless of technique, is to remove the affected appendix and the consequences of inflammatory processes in the abdominal cavity.