Appendicitis history and symptoms

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

History

Obtaining the history is an important aspect in diagnosing appendicitis. It provides insight into causes, precipitating factors, and associated conditions. Complete history will help determine the correct therapy and helps in determining the prognosis. Asking specific questions about symptoms and health history will help rule out other conditions. The onset, location, severity of pain and knowing when other symptoms appeared relative to the pain is helpful. Questions about other medical conditions, previous illnesses and surgeries, and use of medications, alcohol, or illegal drugs are also included.

Symptoms

Common symptoms resulting from appendicitis include:

• Abdominal/stomach pain that usually starts in the nave and moves to the lower right side of the abdomen.
  • It starts centrally (in the periumbilical region) before localizing to the right iliac fossa (the lower right side of the abdomen). This is due to the poor localizing (spatial) property of visceral nerves from the mid-gut, followed by the involvement of somatic nerves (parietal peritoneum) as the inflammation progresses.
• Loss of appetite
• Low fever
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Constipation
• Diarrhea
• Inability to pass gas