Appendix removal & IC

Hi Doctor,
My daughter was diagnosised at the age of 17 with IC. She is now 25.
She had her appendix out when she was 16. She spent  8 days in the hospital.
Within one month her symptoms began.
Do you think that she may have contacted an infection in surgery that inturn gave her IC?
She is managing this disease very well since she got a little older.
Thank  you
Patricia

[David A Burks, MD]

It was probably just a coincidence that your daughter was diagnosed with IC one month after an appendectomy.  IC can be triggered by a bladder injury or insult like a bad urinary tract infection, but its unlikely that an infected appendix caused a major bladder injury. Spending 8 days in the hospital means that  you had a serious appendicitis but the bladder is rarely involved because its in the pelvis, not the abdomen where the appendix is. I'm glad she is now doing better. Good Luck.