Let’s call our patient today Madison (made up).
Madison came to the hospital with pain in her stomach. Her pain had started around the bellybutton and, after some hours, it moved towards the right lower abdomen.
She took some ibuprofen for the pain but it wasn’t quite working—it still hurt. She had her arms around her belly from the pain. Because the pain wouldn’t go away, she decided to go to the hospital.
The blood test showed that there might be an infection somewhere, although it didn’t look like a urinary infection.
Suspecting it could be appendicitis, her doctors ordered an abdominal CT. You can see a snapshot of it here:
The abdominal CT confirmed it: Madison had appendicitis. Also, it showed that it wasn’t too bad, the appendix hadn’t burst (which sometimes happens after many hours).
In the next few hours doctors took her to the operating room and removed her appendix. They did it through laparoscopic surgery, which uses some thin rods to enter into the abdomen. Through those rods, they insert a tiny camera and small scalpels. That way, they don’t need such a large incision (and scar).
After a few days, Madison was doing well so she was able to go home.
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