Appendicitis is one of the most common abdominal diseases that require surgery in children. It occurs at any age, but more often at 8-14 years old. If your child complains of abdominal pain, you should call your doctor right away. In the meantime, you can try to diagnose this insidious disease yourself.
Instructions
Step 1
Place the baby on his back and palpate (feel) the abdomen. Starting at the left iliac region, move counterclockwise. The symptom of appendicitis is increased pain when palpating in the right iliac region. This sign is very important. In medical practice, it is called local soreness.
You can try to examine your child while sleeping. Then, upon palpation of the right lower square of the abdomen, a repulsion symptom appears - this is the repulsion of the hand of the sleeping child examining the hand.
Step 2
The second major symptom of inflammation is the protective muscle tension in the right lower abdominal square. To determine this symptom, place your hands on the child's abdomen (left on the right iliac region, and right on the left lower square of the patient's abdomen). Wait for inhalation and alternately press left and right. Thus, try to determine the difference in muscle tone.
Step 3
Now it is necessary to determine the presence of the Shchetkin-Blumberg symptom. Gradually press deeply on the anterior abdominal wall. Then quickly and abruptly remove your hand. If the symptom is positive, the child will feel a piercing pain that occurs immediately after you remove your hand from the abdomen.
Step 4
Remember, the child's body reacts to any inflammation with an increase in temperature. With appendicitis, the temperature reaction usually does not exceed 37-38 degrees. Pay attention to the relationship between heart rate and body temperature. When the temperature rises by 1 degree Celsius, the heart rate increases by 10 beats per minute. And with an inflammatory process in the abdominal cavity, the heart beats much more often.
Step 5
Be aware that with appendicitis, your child's behavior may change. In many cases, parents noted that children become capricious, little contact, restless and lethargic. This is due to an increase in pain. Continuity of pain leads to sleep disturbance (this occurs in a third of patients).
Step 6
In 6-8 children out of 10, with inflammation of appendicitis, vomiting is observed. Very rarely, vomiting is persistent.
Step 7
If your child shows signs of illness, put him to bed. Call a doctor immediately. Remember, in order not to harm the child, you should not do the following:
- Do not place a heating pad on your stomach. This can lead to rupture of the appendix and peritonitis, because heat accelerates the development of inflammation.
- Don't give any medicine. They can blur the clinical picture of the disease (reduce the intensity of the inflammatory process, remove or reduce pain, etc.). Then the correct diagnosis will not be easy.
- Do not feed or water the patient. If an operation is needed, which is performed under general anesthesia, the contents of the stomach can enter the airways. To prevent this, the child will need to wash the stomach, and this is a difficult and unpleasant procedure.
