Appendicitis

Inflammation of, or in the vicinity of, the vermiform appendix. A tubular offshoot of the large intestine, on the right side of the body, about the diameter of a goose quill, which in some of the lower animals a ists in digestion, but in man is usele . Small bodies, as fruit seeds, pieces of bone, small ma es of hard fæces, etc., enter its canal and, if they remain sufficiently long, excite an inflammation which gives rise to an absce which, which, if it discharges into the abdominal cavity, arouses a peritonitis, nearly always fatal. Often, instead of the pus taking this course, it escapes into the intestines, or bladder, or comes to the surface, and the disease cures itself. The symptoms are at first apt to be obscure, but after a time resolve themselves into pain and tenderne in the right side just above the hip bone, more or le fever, and signs of a deeply seated absce . Operation, as soon as there is evidence of the presence of pus, is the only form of treatment which affords any hope of cure; it consists in opening through the side and removing the foreign body which gave rise to the trouble, and, if po ible, the appendix itself. The mortality in such cases is relatively small, provided the operation is performed sufficiently early. This disease has been known for more than 2,000 years, but its recognition during life became easy only of late, and only since the time of antiseptic surgery has it lost its fatal character. Formerly it was grouped with a number of other diseases under the head of inflammation of the bowels.