Post appendectomy in child

[Klholliday]

My 4 year old woke up Tuesday morning vomiting with a fever. Throughout the day she continuously complained of pain in her lower right abdomen but my husband said that it would be worse if it was her appendix. By 7pm she was vomiting bloody foam so I took her to the urgent care where they advised I take her to the pediatric ER at the hospital. I took her in and they said it was most likely the flu but they were going to do a CT just to be sure. Well her appendix was huge so they rushed her into emergency surgery at which time they found that her appendix was on the verge of rupturing and her abdomen was filled with infection. They kept her 1 day then sent us home with really no instruction. Today (4 days later) she still has a fever (99's) and her belly is still rock hard and tender. She has yet to pass gas. Should I be concerned?

[Christopher R Watters, MD]

Given the peritonitis that you describe an ileus would be expected. As this calms down the intestinal tract starts to work again but patients will bloat quite a bit. Best to stick with liquids until things start to move. Sometimes this is severe enough to require readmission and IV fluids. If your child develops vomiting it would be best to return to the hospital. The low grade fevers are also to be expected as the inflammation resolves. Temps of 99-100 are very common but spiking fevers to over 101.5 need to be reported to your surgeon.

[CalGal]

Call your doctor, or the facility in which your daughter had the operation. You need to discuss what is going on with your medical professional or a medical professional at the pediatric ER.