1. Appendicitis & Appendectomy Slideshow Pictures
2. Medical Illustrations of Appendix Image Collection
3. Take the Appendicitis Quiz

Medical Author:

John P. Cunha, DO, FACOEP

John P. Cunha, DO, FACOEP

John P. Cunha, DO, is a U.S. board-certified Emergency Medicine Physician. Dr. Cunha's educational background includes a BS in Biology from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and a DO from the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences in Kansas City, MO. He completed residency training in Emergency Medicine at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark, New Jersey.

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Medical Editor:

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.

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Medical Editor:

Bhupinder Anand, MD

Appendicitis typically begins with a vague pain in the middle of the abdomen often near the navel or "belly button" (umbilicus). The pain slowly moves to the right lower abdomen (toward the right hip) over the next 24 hours. In the classic description, abdominal pain may be accompanied with nausea, vomiting, lack of appetite, and fever. All of these symptoms, however, occur in fewer than half of people who develop appendicitis. More commonly, people with appendicitis have any combination of these symptoms.

• Symptoms of appendicitis may take 4-48 hours to develop. During this time, a person developing appendicitis may have varying degrees of loss of appetite, vomiting, and abdominal pain. The person may have constipation or diarrhea, or there may be no change in bowel habits.
• Early symptoms are often hard to separate from other conditions including gastroenteritis (an inflammation of the stomach and intestines). Many people admitted to the hospital for suspected appendicitis leave the hospital with a diagnosis of gastroenteritis; initially, true appendicitis is often misdiagnosed as gastroenteritis.
• Children and the elderly often have fewer symptoms, or cannot adequately describe their symptoms, which makes their diagnosis less obvious and the incidence of complications more frequent.

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