What is Acute Appendicitis?

What is Acute Appendicitis?

• Acute Appendicitis: Infection of the appendix.
• Acute Appendicitis: Acute inflammation of the APPENDIX. Acute appendicitis is classified as simple, gangrenous, or perforated.
  Source - Diseases Database
• Acute Appendicitis: inflammation of the vermiform appendix.
  Source - WordNet 2.1

Acute Appendicitis: Introduction

Types of Acute Appendicitis:

Broader types of Acute Appendicitis:

• Appendix disorders
• Viral diseases
• Bacterial diseases
• Acute infections
• more types...»

How many people get Acute Appendicitis?

Incidence (annual) of Acute Appendicitis: 25 per 10,000 (age 10-17), 1-2 per per 10,000 (under 4)
Incidence Rate of Acute Appendicitis: approx 1 in 400 or 0.25% or 680,000 people in USA [about data]
Lifetime risk of Acute Appendicitis: 8.6% risk for males, 6.7% for females (Rothrock et al, 2000).

Who gets Acute Appendicitis?

Geography Profile for Acute Appendicitis: Highest in USA and Europe, much less in Asia and Africa.

How serious is Acute Appendicitis?

Complications of Acute Appendicitis: see complications of Acute Appendicitis
Deaths for Acute Appendicitis: 390 deaths reported in USA 1999 for appendix conditions (NVSR Sep 2001)

What causes Acute Appendicitis?

Causes of Acute Appendicitis: see causes of Acute Appendicitis
Causes of Acute Appendicitis: Appendicitis may occur after a viral infection in the digestive tract or when the tube connecting the large intestine and appendix is blocked by trapped stool. (Source: excerpt from Appendicitis: NIDDK)
Risk factors for Acute Appendicitis: see risk factors for Acute Appendicitis

What are the symptoms of Acute Appendicitis?

Symptoms of Acute Appendicitis: see symptoms of Acute Appendicitis

Complications of Acute Appendicitis: see complications of Acute Appendicitis

Incubation period for Acute Appendicitis: usually 2 to 48 hours for acute appendicitis

Seasonality of Acute Appendicitis: Mild seasonality, rising 10% in May to August.

Can anyone else get Acute Appendicitis?

Inheritance: see inheritance of Acute Appendicitis

Acute Appendicitis: Testing

Diagnostic testing: see tests for Acute Appendicitis.

Misdiagnosis: see misdiagnosis and Acute Appendicitis.

How is it treated?

Treatments for Acute Appendicitis: see treatments for Acute Appendicitis
Prevention of Acute Appendicitis: see prevention of Acute Appendicitis
Research for Acute Appendicitis: see research for Acute Appendicitis

Society issues for Acute Appendicitis

Hospitalization statistics for Acute Appendicitis: The following are statistics from various sources about hospitalizations and Acute Appendicitis:

• 0.255% (32,544) of hospital consultant episodes were for acute appendicitis in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
• 91% of hospital consultant episodes for acute appendicitis required hospital admission in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
• 57% of hospital consultant episodes for acute appendicitis were for men in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
• 43% of hospital consultant episodes for acute appendicitis were for women in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
• 98% of hospital consultant episodes for acute appendicitis required emergency hospital admission in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
• 4.4days was the mean length of stay in hospitals for acute appendicitis in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
• more statistics...»

Organs Affected by Acute Appendicitis:

Organs and body systems related to Acute Appendicitis include:

• Appendix

Name and Aliases of Acute Appendicitis

Main name of condition: Acute Appendicitis

Class of Condition for Acute Appendicitis: viral, bacterial

Research the causes of these diseases that are similar to, or related to, Acute Appendicitis:

• Appendectomy
• Acute inflammation of the appendix
• Abdominal pain
• Fecaliths
• Appendiceal perforation
• Right lower quadrant pain
• Vomiting
• Periumbilical pain
• Rovsing sign
• Obturator sign
• Psoas sign
• Positive cough sign
• Burst appendix
• Luminal obstruction

 » Next page: Online Medical Textbooks for Acute Appendicitis

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