Symptoms of appendicitis.

Appendicitis : Appendicitis is the inflammation of the appendix - a small, finger-like protrusion from the colon. It is considered a surgical emergency. The symptoms of appendicitis usually worsen over a period of 12-18 hours. The things to look for are: - an achy pain that starts around your belly button and eventually moves down and to the right - pain that worsens with jarring movements - nausea or loss of appetite - vomiting - fever - constipation or diarrhea - inability to pass gas of course, nothing is always easy or straightforward, so not everyone with appendicitis will have all of these symptoms or pain on the right. If you are having severe abdominal pain in general - you should call your doctor.

Ok: Pain from appendicitis can be midline, rlq, llq or back, or pelvic depending on the location intra abdominal . Or retroperitoneal. May start central and gradually move to rlq. Anorexia, nausea and sometimes vomiting.

RLQ ABD Pain: The "classic" pt: vague abdominal pain that 'moves' to the right lower abdomen over ~24hrs, becoming constant, progressively worsening; decreased appetite, nausea, vomiting, fever. Studies have shown that only 50% of patients have classic symptoms, making the diagnosis somewhat challenging. Ct scans have been very helpful for diagnosis in equivocal cases, but the radiation exposure is not trivial.