What if one person has persistent pain in his/her lower right abdomen due to acute appendicitis, but doesn't want to have surgery? Is there any other solution?
The 30-year-old Ms. Zhu (assumed name) suffered from recurring pain in her right lower abdomen and was diagnosed with acute appendicitis after examination at the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University.
Because she was preparing for pregnancy and it was inconvenient to be hospitalized for surgery, she gave priority to conservative treatment with antibiotics. However, the abdominal pain symptoms were not completely relieved after taking the medication, which affected her daily work and life.
Having checked Ms. Zhu's condition, Guo Xuefeng, director of endoscopic surgery at the hospital, believed that her abdominal pain symptoms were mainly caused by fecal stones blocking the appendix lumen and increasing intracavity pressure, which in turn led to appendiceal edema, inflammation, and suppuration.
Considering that the patient was young, in good physical condition, and had a plan for pregnancy, it was decided that she should undergo Endoscopic Retrograde Appendicitis Therapy (ERAT).
The patient felt abdominal pain relieved immediately after the operation, could eat normally and was discharged from the hospital the next day.
When most people think of appendicitis, the first thing that comes to mind is surgical removal. Clinical observation shows that appendicitis is prone to recurrence. After conservative treatment with antibiotics, the re-visiting rate and hospitalization rate are both high. The recurrence rate within one year ranges from 5% to 27%. Especially when there are appendiceal fecal stones, conservative treatment with antibiotics is not ideal.
ERAT has many advantages, such as rapid pain relief, rapid recovery, and preservation of the function of the appendix. Usually, patients can eat normally within 1-3 days after surgery.
Colonoscopy combined with ERAT can help diagnose appendicitis more accurately and complete operations such as flushing and stone removal under direct vision.
Author | Hannah
Editor | Olivia, Nan, Jasmine, James
