A 1,5 months’ infant with appendicitis was operated at the Children’s Surgery National Applied Research Hospital. This is the first registered case in so young infant for the last 50 years.

“Appendicitis as a spontaneous pathology in young infants is a very rare phenomenon,” says Alexander Svirsky, head of the Department of Pediatric Surgery of the Children’s Surgery National Applied Research Hospital. “World literature describes less than a thousand such cases. Most often, the appendix is ​​inflamed against the complications of necrotic enterocolitis and intestine development defects. According to statistics, these are usually destructive forms complicated by peritonitis.”

How to suspect appendicitis in such a crumb? First of all, you need to listen to his mother. During the development of diseases general processes predominate over local ones in children under 3 years old. Infants (especially newborns) begin immediately behave themselves not as usual, they refuse to eat. The temperature rises, vomiting, bloating, loose stools, or constipation begin. Mom will quickly notice some peculiarities, for example, if a baby has a tummy.

When we first saw our patient with appendicitis in the waiting room, he was floppy, his state didn’t change. It was clear that he needs a diagnostic laparoscopy. We quickly prepared and made ultrasound of the abdominal cavity. We suspected intestinal obstruction, but the boy was carried to full time, healthy…

The diagnosis was acute phlegmonous perforated appendicitis, diffuse fibrous purulent peritonitis. The baby underwent surgery successfully.

When we tried to find out whence there were problems at such age, it was discovered, that there was an infection in the mom’s milk. Shortly before that, the elder child was sick in the family.

In our center we have operated about 50 000 children with appendicitis. Only 10-12 of them were under the age of 1 year. In my practice, such a patient was the first.

Taken from the site www.MedVestnik.by