Open AccessA Fatal Case of Acute Appendicitis
Author(s) -
Sim TB,
Ooi SBS
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
hong kong journal of emergency medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.145
H-Index - 12
eISSN - 2309-5407
pISSN - 1024-9079
DOI - 10.1177/102490790701400309
Subject(s) - medicine , acute appendicitis , presentation (obstetrics) , appendicitis , emergency department , surgical emergency , general surgery , intensive care medicine , radiology , psychiatry
Appendicitis continues to be the most common acute surgical emergency. We report a fatal case of acute appendicitis, illustrating that the early presentation of appendicitis is non‐specific and that serial examination is the key to the diagnosis to avoid a fatal outcome. We also present an evidence‐based approach to the diagnosis of acute appendicitis in the emergency department and highlight the pearls and pitfalls of diagnosing acute appendicitis.