Early detection of pediatric appendicitis

 Acute appendicitis is one of the common causes of abdominal pain in children and can occur in children of all ages. The typical presentation is pain around the umbilicus and upper abdomen first, followed by a shift to the right lower abdomen, where the child may present only with crying and huddling. It is often accompanied by nausea and vomiting, followed by fever. Examination of white blood cells may be elevated, and imaging tests such as ultrasound may be helpful for diagnosis. The incidence is relatively low in infants and children, and the clinical manifestations are atypical, so early diagnosis is sometimes difficult and requires several comparative views by doctors. Pediatric appendix is relatively long, narrow lumen and thin wall, which is easy to perforate in case of obstruction or inflammation. The large omentum of children is shorter, so once the appendix is suppurated or perforated, it is not easy to wrap it to confine the inflammation, which can easily form peritonitis or even sepsis and delay the treatment.    The surgery of Children’s Hospital adopts minimally invasive surgery, single-hole laparoscopic treatment of acute appendicitis, with less surgical damage, much faster healing than conventional surgery, and almost invisible scars on the abdominal wall in the future.