Appendicitis: Expert advises people with abdomen pain to go for check-up

Dr Ovo Samiel, a medical practitioner with a private hospital in Warri, 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 (NAN) in Benin on Wednesday.

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

“This condition requires immediate surgery to remove it and cleanse your abdominal cavity,” 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, pain that begins around your navel and often shifts to your lower right abdomen.

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

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

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