Pediatric Appendicitis

    
      Re: Pediatric Appendicitis
    


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Posted by HFHS-MD tbm on March 18, 1998 at 08:17:53:

In Reply to: Pediatric Appendicitis posted by Angie Evans on March 05, 1998 at 10:10:18:
  I am doing a report in Health Class and need to know why appendicitis is more common in children than adults.
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Dear Angie:
Several studies show that acute appendicitis is most common in young adolescants between the age of 10-19. We do not know why appendicitis is more common in children than in adults. There are several theories, which may be no more than eduated guesses:
1. infections in general are more common in the young and in the elderly because of nuiances related to the body's immune system.
2. The initiating event for acute appendicitis is sometimes a small piece of stool (fecolith) that is impacted in the entrance to the appendix. Perhaps children are more susceptible to this because "mouth" of the appendix is small than in adults. One could argue, however, that this does not explain why appendicitis is not most common in new-borns, or children under ten years-of-age.
Studies also show that the complications of appendicitis are most common in the very young (less than 5 years of age), and in the elderly (greater than 65 years of age). We think this may be because the disease is underdiagnosed in these age-groups. As you probably know by now, if acute appendicitis is recognized in a timely manner, and an appendectomy performed early, most of the complications can be avoided.
Hope this has been helpful.
This response is being provided for general informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice or consultation. Always check with your personal physician when you have a question pertaining to your health.
If you would like to be seen at our institution, please call 1-800-653-6568, our Referring Physicians Office and make an appointment to be seen with Dr. Tamir Ben-Menachem of the Division of Gastroenterology, one of our experts in the treatment of intestinal diseases
HFHS M.D.-tbm
Keyword: appendicitis
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