Appendicitis Can Give Right Abdominal, Navel Pain —Physician

Appendicitis Can Give Right Abdominal, Navel Pain —Physician

A medical practitioner with a private hospital in Warri, Dr. Ovo Samiel, has advised people with pains in the lower right abdomen or navel to go for a check-up to avoid appendicitis.

Samiel gave this advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Benin on Wednesday.

He defined appendicitis “as an inflammation of the appendix, a finger-shaped pouch that projects from the colon on the lower right side of the abdomen.”

The physician said that, as inflammation worsens, appendicitis pain typically increases and eventually becomes severe.

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According to him, appendicitis often occurs in people between the ages of 10 and 30, adding that the standard treatment for appendicitis is surgical removal of the appendix.

“It becomes life-threatening when a rupture spreads infection throughout the patient’s abdomen (peritonitis).

“This condition requires immediate surgery to have the appendix removed and the abdominal cavity cleansed,” he said.

He listed causes of appendicitis to include: a blockage in the lining of the appendix that results in infection; and bacteria multiplying rapidly, causing the appendix to become inflamed, swollen and filled with pus.

Samiel identified the symptoms as sudden pain that begins on the right side of the lower abdomen, or pain that begins around the navel and often shifts to the lower right abdomen.

“Also, pain that worsens if you cough, walk or make other jarring movements are the symptoms of the medical condition,” he said.

Other symptoms are nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, low-grade fever that may worsen as the illness progresses, constipation or diarrhea, abdominal bloating and flatulence.

Samiel advised anyone with such pains to visit a medical practitioner immediately.