I saw an eight year old boy on June 12 because of abdominal pain and vomiting of one day duration.
He said that his abdominal pain was worse everytime his mother hit a bump while driving to the way to my office.
His physical findings are consistent with early appendicitis. I did a blood count and called a Pediatric surgeon.
So I did a review of medical reports of useful diagnostic findings for appendicitis in children.
This is what I found:
appendicitis more likely if the:
Pain starts at the navel area and it goes down to the right lower quadrant
Pain is associated with vomiting
There is tenderness (pain on pressure or pushing down) at the right lower quadrant
Rigidity (hardness) of the abdomen
On blood count the WBC (White Blood Cell) is higher than 15,000
If all of the above findings are present, the likelihood of appendicitis is high.
Reference - West J Med 2002 Mar;176(2):104 in Am Fam Physician 2002 Aug 1;66(3):496
Updated: June 14, 2007