What Causes Your Appendix To Burst?

And what does it feel like?

Spoiler: it isn’t fun

Story time: in April 1961, during the Sixth Soviet Antarctic Expedition, Dr. Leonid Rogozov developed appendicitis while isolated by a blizzard, leaving him with the choice of waiting for help (near certain death) or performing surgery on himself (not an enviable task, but fair chance of survival); he successfully removed his own appendix under local anesthesia and returned to work two weeks later.

And that’s why it’s now not uncommon to have a prophylactic appendectomy before going there!

First, let’s bust a myth: the appendix is a small, worm-shaped pouch attached to the large intestine that contains a diverse community of gut microbes; although once considered a useless evolutionary remnant, evidence suggests it evolved independently in many mammals, suggesting it serves some useful functions, such as (at the very least) acting as a non-moving (unlike the rest of the gut) reservoir for beneficial gut bacteria, and/or contributing to beneficial immune responses.

However. Sometimes the immune responses are not at all beneficial, and appendicitis usually begins when the appendix becomes blocked, often by an appendicolith (hardened feces), or when infections and/or misfiring immune responses cause nearby lymph tissue to swell and seal its opening.

This gets very dangerous very quickly because the appendix is a closed-ended pouch, meaning blockage causes pressure to build, allowing bacteria to multiply rapidly; as swelling increases, blood flow is reduced, weakening the appendix until it may rupture, releasing bacteria into the abdominal cavity and causing a potentially life-threatening infection.

How to recognize it: appendicitis typically causes pain that begins near the belly button before moving to the lower right abdomen and becoming more severe, unlike a typical stomach ache.

Not included in the video, but there’s a useful self-check that you can do too: if you are experiencing a sharp pain in that general area and are worrying if it is appendicitis, then pressing on the appropriately named McBurney’s point is a first-line test for appendicitis. If, after pressing, it hurts a lot more upon removal of pressure (rather than upon application of pressure), this is considered a likely sign of appendicitis. Get thee to a hospital, quickly.

And if it doesn’t? Still get it checked out at your earliest convenience, of course (better safe than sorry), but you might make an appointment instead of calling an ambulance.

For more on all of this (apart from that last addition of ours), enjoy:

Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!

Want to learn more?

You might also like:

Women and Minorities Bear the Brunt of Medical Misdiagnosis

Take care!