Abdominal pain lasting for a week but not going to the doctor, a 23-year-old young man in Hanoi only bought medicine to treat at home. When a high fever appeared, severe abdominal pain spread throughout the abdominal cavity, the patient was taken to E Hospital for emergency treatment.
MSc.BSNT Phung Van Quyen, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, E Hospital, said that the patient was admitted to the hospital in a state of severe pain in the right iliac fossa, high fever, abdominal distension and pain throughout the abdominal cavity. The results of examination, testing and diagnostic imaging determined that the patient had ruptured acute appendicitis, causing total peritonitis - a serious complication with the risk of leading to septicemia if not treated promptly.
According to the doctor, exploiting the pathology, it was known that the patient had a dull pain in the lower abdomen, so he confused it with digestive disease, self-medicating with stomach medicine and probiotics. After many days, the pain gradually increased, spread, accompanied by high fever, fatigue and poor eating and drinking, then he came to the hospital.
The patient underwent emergency surgery. During surgery, the team discovered that the appendix had become necrotic, ruptured, and the abdominal cavity had a lot of pus and pseudomembranes spreading. Doctors had to remove the appendix, clean the abdominal cavity, place drainage, and treat with antibiotics after surgery.
According to Dr. Quyen, appendicitis is a common emergency surgical disease but is easily overlooked in the early stages due to atypical symptoms. Many people mistake it for digestive disorders or gastritis, so they treat it at home, causing the disease to progress severely, causing appendicitis, peritonitis or abdominal abscess.
Dr. Pham Thai Hung - Deputy Head of General Surgery Department, E Hospital emphasized that in recent years, with the development of modern diagnostic imaging methods such as ultrasound, computed tomography... along with the progress of laparoscopic surgery, it has contributed to improving the effectiveness of treating acute appendicitis as well as cases of peritonitis due to ruptured appendix. If previously, many cases of peritonitis required open surgery with a large incision, long recovery time and high risk of complications, now, laparoscopic surgery helps doctors accurately assess abdominal lesions, thoroughly treat the source of infection, and at the same time reduce surgical trauma, reduce postoperative pain and shorten hospital stay for patients. Especially, in cases that are detected early, treatment often achieves very good results.
Doctors recommend that appendicitis can progress from inflammation to necrosis and rupture in just 24-72 hours. When signs such as gradually increasing abdominal pain, localized pain in the right iliac fossa, fever, nausea, vomiting or loss of appetite appear, people need to go to a medical facility for early examination. Self-medicating with pain relievers or antibiotics can cover up symptoms, slow down diagnosis and miss effective treatment time.
