What to know about appendicitis
Miss Mary (not real name) complained of pains in her right lower abdomen for some time before she went to the hospital. She was diagnosed of appendicitis after medical examination and tests.
She told Daily Trust that she underwent surgery to remove the appendix and had to spend two days in the hospital before she was discharged.
Dr Ofure Eborieme, Chief Medical Director, Ohize Medical Centre, Benin described appendicitis as the inflammation of the appendix or the infection of the appendix.
He said many people suffering from the disease often initially think it was just the usual abdominal pains but only discover later after examination that they were suffering from appendicitis.
Dr. Ofure, who is also a consultant surgeon and retired permanent secretary, Edo State Ministry of Health, described the illness as very dangerous and that if left untreated could easily lead to death of patients.
The physician said many people died of appendicitis because they always presented themselves late for examination, when the appendix might have ruptured.
He said appendix is a fingerlike structure (organ) attached to the rectum, which is the early part of the colon of the large intestine, adding that the appendix, which is like a tube, often gets blocked and once that happened, infection could set in, thereby causing abdominal pains.
According to him, “there is the obstructive type of appendix, which is when the lumen (hole) is blocked and it is more dangerous because once the whole is blocked, there will be secretion that cause pains.
“It is also categorised into acute and sub-acute appendicitis; the acute one can only be treated with surgery while the sub-acute can be treated with drugs.”
He explained that the causes of appendicitis are actually not known but that there were several predisposing factors such as the claim in some quarters that eating grains with stones could cause it.
“Some also say worms can also cause it while other people say diet could act as a predisposing factor.
“But there is no scientific proof that the above mentioned are the causes of appendicitis,” the surgeon noted.
He said initially, the disease was not common in blacks but with the increasing cases of appendicitis, it could be linked to change in diet as most people were now adopting western dieting.
According to him, the wrong belief about the disease is that worms, diet, and eating grains caused it.
Dr. Ohize said patients suffering from the disease might initially complain of pains around the umbilical cord and after a few days, the pains settled down in the right side of the lower abdomen (Iliac fossa).
He said: “The pain might be very severe while in some cases patients may experience vomiting, loss of appetite and inability to go to the toilet.
“In severe cases, such patients are advised to see doctors immediately and tests are carried out to determine if it is appendicitis or not.
“Once the doctor confirms it is acute appendix, it is surgery immediately but if it is sub-acute, the patient can do well on antibiotics and pain relievers and may not have to undergo surgery.”
He said the disease could not be prevented because the cause was unknown, noting that factors earlier mentioned were predisposing ones.
He said blood, urine and other tests should be conducted to ascertain the fitness of the patient before commencing surgery.
“When you have abdominal pains it is advisable to see a doctor instead of taking purgatives (something taken to stool) because the purgation will spread the infection to the entire abdominal cavity and it may lead to death,” he advised.
He advised patients to also see a doctor whenever they were having signs because home treatment was dangerous.