Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsEarly SymptomsDiagnosisTypes of TestsMisdiagnosisChecking At-HomeHow to PrepareUnderstanding ResultsNext in Appendicitis GuideAppendicitis
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Early Symptoms
Diagnosis
Types of Tests
Misdiagnosis
Checking At-Home
How to Prepare
Understanding Results
Next in Appendicitis Guide
Appendicitisoccurs in about 250,000 people in the United States every year.Most commonly, the condition affects people in their 20s, but it can affect anyone at any age, even children.
This article explains the symptoms of appendicitis and which tests healthcare providers use to diagnose the condition.
macniak/ Getty Images
What Is Acute Appendicitis?
Early Signs and Symptoms of Appendicitis
To receive prompt diagnosis and treatment, it’s essential to identifyearly signs of appendicitis. These may include:
Appendicitis painis distinct from other kinds of abdominal pain in its location, persistence, and severity. Appendicitis is often first felt near yourbelly button, then moves to the lower right quadrant of the abdomen. The pain can start suddenly and may wake you from sleep. Moving, coughing, and sneezing often make the pain worse.
Symptoms in Kids
How Is Appendicitis Diagnosed?
Todiagnose appendicitis, a healthcare provider will likely do the following:
Ruptured AppendixAruptured appendixis a medical emergency. One sign that your appendix has ruptured is if the abdominal pain becomes severe and spreads to the entire abdomen. If your appendix bursts, you may not have time for diagnostic tests. The treatment is an emergencyappendectomy(surgical removal of the appendix).
Ruptured Appendix
Aruptured appendixis a medical emergency. One sign that your appendix has ruptured is if the abdominal pain becomes severe and spreads to the entire abdomen. If your appendix bursts, you may not have time for diagnostic tests. The treatment is an emergencyappendectomy(surgical removal of the appendix).
Types of Appendicitis Tests
There is not just one test to diagnose appendicitis definitively. Instead, healthcare providers use a combination of assessments to determine if your symptoms and imaging are consistent with an appendicitis diagnosis.
Physical Exam
Blood Testing
Lab tests may includeblood work. Healthcare providers will look for signs of infection in your blood, like a highwhite blood cell count. Blood tests can also help determine if you are dehydrated, if your electrolytes are out of balance, or if there is inflammation.
Urine Testing
Aurinalysis(urine test) is done to rule out other conditions, like pregnancy or aurinary tract infection (UTI). To collect a urine sample, you will pee in a cup. A lab technician will evaluate the results.
Imaging Scans
Imaging tests for appendicitis may include:
Can Tests Misdiagnose Appendicitis?
It is possible to misdiagnose appendicitis, leading to unnecessary intervention. It is also possible to miss correctly diagnosing appendicitis, leading to the risk that the appendix will burst without treatment.
Researchers have found that appendicitis was potentially missed in 6% of adults and 4% of children.The study noted that people more likely to have an appendicitis diagnosis missed in the emergency room had only abdominal X-rays.
A false-positive appendicitis diagnosis (a test that indicates you have the condition when you do not) could lead to an unnecessary appendectomy (negative appendectomy). These unnecessary surgeries occur at rates of up to 40%.
Researchers conclude that the high rate of negative appendectomies is due to diagnosing appendicitis based on clinical examinations alone. However, when a physical exam is combined with a CT scan, a correct diagnosis is obtained at a rate of 98%.
Does Appendicitis Change Poop Color?
Checking for Appendicitis at Home
There is no at-home test for appendicitis. However, knowing the early signs of appendicitis can help you receive medical care and an accurate diagnosis on time.
How to Prepare for Testing
Most of the time, you don’t need special preparation for testing. At the hospital, you may be asked to change into a gown, allowing technicians to see your abdomen for imaging and lab workers to collect blood from a vein.
Understanding Your Results
An emergency room healthcare provider will review your results with you. If your urine tests are positive, they may indicate that your pain is due to an infection rather than appendicitis. A high white blood cell count may also denote infection and prompt a healthcare provider to order further imaging tests to confirm appendicitis.
If aradiologist(a medical specialist who reads imaging results) suspects appendicitis based on images, they likely detected an enlarged appendix or could observe a partial or complete rupture in the images.
Summary
Healthcare providers use several tests to diagnose appendicitis. These tests include a physical exam, blood work, urinalysis, ultrasound, MRI, and CT scans. Most people do not receive all of these tests. Usually, you will have an exam, labs, and then one of the imaging tests if indicated. Imaging tests are highly accurate for diagnosing appendicitis.
10 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Walter K.Acute appendicitis.JAMA.2021;326(22):2339. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.20410National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.Symptoms and causes of appendicitis.Marzuillo P, Germani C, Krauss BS, Barbi E.Appendicitis in children less than five years old: a challenge for the general practitioner.World J Clin Pediatr. 2015;4(2):19-24. doi:10.5409/wjcp.v4.i2.19National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.Diagnosis of appendicitis.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Appendicitis.National Library of Medicine.Appendicitis tests.Fu J, Zhou X, Chen L, Lu S.Abdominal ultrasound and its diagnostic accuracy in diagnosing acute appendicitis: A meta-analysis.Front Surg. 2021;8:707160. Published 2021 Jun 28. doi:10.3389/fsurg.2021.707160Aspelund G, Fingeret A, Gross E, et al.Ultrasonography/MRI versus CT for diagnosing appendicitis.Pediatrics. 2014;133(4):586-593. doi:10.1542/peds.2013-2128Mahajan P, Basu T, Pai CW, et al.Factors associated with potentially missed diagnosis of appendicitis in the emergency department.JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(3):e200612. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.0612Kryzauskas M, Danys D, Poskus T, et al.Is acute appendicitis still misdiagnosed?.Open Med (Wars). 2016;11(1):231-236. doi:10.1515/med-2016-0045
10 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Walter K.Acute appendicitis.JAMA.2021;326(22):2339. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.20410National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.Symptoms and causes of appendicitis.Marzuillo P, Germani C, Krauss BS, Barbi E.Appendicitis in children less than five years old: a challenge for the general practitioner.World J Clin Pediatr. 2015;4(2):19-24. doi:10.5409/wjcp.v4.i2.19National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.Diagnosis of appendicitis.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Appendicitis.National Library of Medicine.Appendicitis tests.Fu J, Zhou X, Chen L, Lu S.Abdominal ultrasound and its diagnostic accuracy in diagnosing acute appendicitis: A meta-analysis.Front Surg. 2021;8:707160. Published 2021 Jun 28. doi:10.3389/fsurg.2021.707160Aspelund G, Fingeret A, Gross E, et al.Ultrasonography/MRI versus CT for diagnosing appendicitis.Pediatrics. 2014;133(4):586-593. doi:10.1542/peds.2013-2128Mahajan P, Basu T, Pai CW, et al.Factors associated with potentially missed diagnosis of appendicitis in the emergency department.JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(3):e200612. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.0612Kryzauskas M, Danys D, Poskus T, et al.Is acute appendicitis still misdiagnosed?.Open Med (Wars). 2016;11(1):231-236. doi:10.1515/med-2016-0045
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Walter K.Acute appendicitis.JAMA.2021;326(22):2339. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.20410National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.Symptoms and causes of appendicitis.Marzuillo P, Germani C, Krauss BS, Barbi E.Appendicitis in children less than five years old: a challenge for the general practitioner.World J Clin Pediatr. 2015;4(2):19-24. doi:10.5409/wjcp.v4.i2.19National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.Diagnosis of appendicitis.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Appendicitis.National Library of Medicine.Appendicitis tests.Fu J, Zhou X, Chen L, Lu S.Abdominal ultrasound and its diagnostic accuracy in diagnosing acute appendicitis: A meta-analysis.Front Surg. 2021;8:707160. Published 2021 Jun 28. doi:10.3389/fsurg.2021.707160Aspelund G, Fingeret A, Gross E, et al.Ultrasonography/MRI versus CT for diagnosing appendicitis.Pediatrics. 2014;133(4):586-593. doi:10.1542/peds.2013-2128Mahajan P, Basu T, Pai CW, et al.Factors associated with potentially missed diagnosis of appendicitis in the emergency department.JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(3):e200612. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.0612Kryzauskas M, Danys D, Poskus T, et al.Is acute appendicitis still misdiagnosed?.Open Med (Wars). 2016;11(1):231-236. doi:10.1515/med-2016-0045
Walter K.Acute appendicitis.JAMA.2021;326(22):2339. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.20410
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.Symptoms and causes of appendicitis.
Marzuillo P, Germani C, Krauss BS, Barbi E.Appendicitis in children less than five years old: a challenge for the general practitioner.World J Clin Pediatr. 2015;4(2):19-24. doi:10.5409/wjcp.v4.i2.19
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.Diagnosis of appendicitis.
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Appendicitis.
National Library of Medicine.Appendicitis tests.
Fu J, Zhou X, Chen L, Lu S.Abdominal ultrasound and its diagnostic accuracy in diagnosing acute appendicitis: A meta-analysis.Front Surg. 2021;8:707160. Published 2021 Jun 28. doi:10.3389/fsurg.2021.707160
Aspelund G, Fingeret A, Gross E, et al.Ultrasonography/MRI versus CT for diagnosing appendicitis.Pediatrics. 2014;133(4):586-593. doi:10.1542/peds.2013-2128
Mahajan P, Basu T, Pai CW, et al.Factors associated with potentially missed diagnosis of appendicitis in the emergency department.JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(3):e200612. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.0612
Kryzauskas M, Danys D, Poskus T, et al.Is acute appendicitis still misdiagnosed?.Open Med (Wars). 2016;11(1):231-236. doi:10.1515/med-2016-0045
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