The first symptoms of appendicitis in a child 10 years old

Diseases of children are always a cause for emotions. Especially if it concerns surgical pathologies, in which the child needs surgery. Unfortunately, such diseases occur in children and adults with the same frequency. The most common surgical pathology is appendicitis. It can be observed at any age. If a child has a stomach ache for 10 years, then it is worth taking this very carefully. After all, the cause of unpleasant sensations can be inflammation of the appendix. In fact, appendicitis is not considered a serious disease. However, untimely assistance can lead to complications.

What is this disease?

Each parent needs to know the symptoms of appendicitis in a child of 10 years. After all, no one is immune from this pathology. Moreover, at the specified age, it occurs quite often. Appendicitis is considered an inflammatory disease. It arises from the development of a pathological reaction in the cecal department - the appendix. Normally, this organ does not participate in the digestive function, so its removal should not frighten the parents of the child. Nevertheless, with the slightest suspicion of inflammation of the appendix, one should be alerted and call an ambulance. The main symptoms of appendicitis in a 10-year-old child are abdominal pain and fever. Expression and localization of unpleasant sensations may differ depending on the characteristics of the organism. Therefore, atypical clinical picture does not mean that the child has no inflammation of the appendix.

Causes of appendicitis in children 10 years of age

The mechanism of appendicitis is not fully understood. It is known that the appendix has a lymphoid tissue in its composition, so the ingress of bacteria or viruses into this organ causes a pronounced inflammatory reaction.

Acute appendicitis in children 10 years in most cases associated with malnutrition. It is believed that the use of certain products leads to "contamination" of the intestine, in particular the appendix. This refers to the intake of seeds and nuts with peel, chips, salted rusks, etc. Taking into account that children use these products quite often, the symptoms of appendicitis in a child of 10 years are not surprising.

Another reason is the penetration of harmful agents into the bloodstream. Most often this is observed if there are chronic foci of infection. These include diseases such as caries, tonsillitis, sinusitis. With a decrease in immune forces, microbial particles can enter the blood. Naturally, in this case, the appendix responds. After all, in this body there are many lymphocytes and macrophages.

Regardless of the cause of inflammation (microbes or accumulation of harmful food residues) the development of appendicitis is the same. As a result of hypertrophy of lymphoid tissue, the appendix grows in size, fluid stagnation, edema and inflammation occur.

How to recognize the symptoms of appendicitis in children 10-11 years of age?

Signs of inflammation of the appendix may be different. Nevertheless, there are a number of typical symptoms that occur most often. Allocate the following signs of appendicitis in children 10 years old:

1. Abdominal pain. Localization depends on the location of the appendix. In most cases, it is in the right ileal region. But it is not always the case. There are several atypical appendix localizations. Among them - the cavity of the small pelvis, the area of the kidneys, the lower abdomen. Therefore, the location of pain can be different.
2. Raise body temperature. With uncomplicated appendicitis, it is 37-38 degrees.
3. Nausea. This symptom may appear even before the onset of pain and accompanies all stages of inflammation of the appendix.
4. Vomiting. Some are not observed. Most often, vomiting occurs no more than 1-2 times.

The first symptoms of appendicitis in a child of 10 years - loss of appetite and pain in the stomach. These signs appear before others. In the following hours they are replaced by a typical clinical picture. The pain moves to the right iliac region, the body temperature rises.

The severity of appendicitis

There are 3 degrees of severity of the inflammation of the appendix. They depend on the morphological picture of the affected appendix. Each of them corresponds to certain clinical manifestations. An easy degree of appendicitis is observed with catarrhal inflammation. It is characterized by not very pronounced pain, an increase in body temperature to subfebrile digits. The general condition of the child is satisfactory, there is nausea and loss of appetite.

The average severity corresponds to purulent phlegmonous appendicitis. In this case, the following symptoms are noted: an increase in temperature to 38 degrees, an increase in pain sensations (paroxysmal nature), worsening of the condition.

A severe stage occurs with gangrenous inflammation. This type of appendicitis is characterized by necrosis of the appendix. In this case, often there is a perforation and hit of the affected tissues in the abdominal cavity. Symptoms of appendicitis in a child of 10 years at this stage are expressed in intolerable pain throughout the abdomen, an increase in body temperature to 39-40 degrees. This condition leads to the development of complications.

Specific symptoms with inflammation of the appendix

In addition to clinical manifestations, there are many specific symptoms that make it possible to diagnose acute appendicitis. They should be known not only by doctors, but also by parents. After all, by checking at least 1-2 symptoms, you can suspect the inflammation of the appendix. In fact, the specific signs of appendicitis are more than 100. In surgical practice, several of them are used (about 5-7). There are following specific signs of appendicitis:

1. A symptom of Voskresensky. It consists in the appearance of painful sensations when holding your fingers from the epigastric region to the bottom of the abdomen. This movement is compared with pulling on the shirt.
2. Sign of Bartome-Michelson. The patient puts on the left side. The knees of the child should be bent. When palpation of the cecum, pronounced soreness is observed.
3. Symptom Sitkovsky. Reminds the previous specific sign of appendicitis. The difference is that pain occurs without palpation of the abdomen (when turning to the left side).
4. Symptom Obraztsova. The child should lie on his back with legs bent in the knee joints. When raising the right lower limb and performing a palpation of the cecum at the same time, there is an increase in soreness.
5. Symptom of the Football. Characterized by increased pain in palpation of the left ileal region (sigmoid colon). In addition, the doctor moves his fingers, as if pushing the accumulated gases up.
6. The main symptom is Shchetkin-Blumberg. It consists in straining the muscles of the anterior abdominal wall when the right iliac region is palpated with the thumb. A sharp release of it causes an increase in soreness. This symptom is rarely observed with mild and moderate severity of appendicitis. More often it occurs if there is a development of complications (gangrenous inflammation, peritonitis).

Appendicitis: symptoms in children 10 years old, photo of a sick child

Many parents resort to the help of Internet sources when the child's condition worsens. Information posted on medical sites is often reliable, but in any case it is very important to seek qualified medical help as soon as possible. Only the doctor on the symptoms will 100% confirm the pathology, if there is one. Photos of sick children, posted in the article, can give only an approximate idea of the problem.

Diagnostics

It is useful for parents to know how to determine appendicitis in children. In addition to clinical manifestations of the disease and checking for specific symptoms, laboratory diagnostics is important. Considering that the signs of appendicitis can resemble a variety of other pathologies (gastritis, adnexitis, pyelonephritis), it is impossible to rely only on complaints and examination.

If there is a suspected inflammation of the appendix, it is necessary to perform a UAC and a general urinalysis. The most important indicator is leukocytosis. If it is present in the patient's blood, then the diagnosis of "appendicitis" is considered reliable. In OAM can be observed leukocyturia, bacteria. If the doctor has doubts about the diagnosis, ultrasound of the abdominal cavity is performed.

Operative treatment

The only way to treat appendicitis is surgery. In some cases, it is performed by a laparoscopic method. Most often, an open surgery is performed using an oblique incision in the right iliac region. The appendix is excreted outward and cut off at the base. Vessels coagulate. The remaining stump of the appendix is neatly sewn to the intestine.

Prevention of inflammation of the appendix

To avoid the inflammation of the appendix, you need to eat right, maintain immunity. Children are not recommended to eat sunflower seeds and nuts, fast food. Also it is necessary to sanitize foci of infectious inflammation in a timely manner.