Diagnosis and Treatment of Appendicitis

This is an overview of acute appendicitis, the epidemiology, pathophysiology, differential diagnosis, signs, symptoms and physical exam findings, evaluation and diagnosis, and surgical and non-surgical treatment of appendicitis. It is meant to be succinct. Almost all sections have an area for patients, and a separate one for medical students and surgery residents. Patients will gain from this article an understanding of what doctors are thinking as they evaluate them for appendicitis. They will also be able to use this to compare to their own symptoms, in order to determine their likelihood of having appendicitis. Medical students and residents can use this information to prepare for USMLE Step 1, Step 2CK, Step 2CS, and Step 3. Surgical residents can use this to study pertinent information for the ABSITE. It is thorough enough to be of value to these three groups, but succinct enough so that you can find the information you are looking for in one quick read. At the end, I’ve included a sample history and physical of a patient with appendicitis, a sample CT (computed tomography) read of a patient with appendicitis. In the future, an updated version of this same article (which will be available to you automatically) will include appendicitis in pregnancy, chronic appendicitis, appendectomy controversies, and operative dictations of appendectomies.