Appendicitis - treatment and recovery

[dimitrovb]

Appendicitis is a relatively common disease, represented by an inflammation of the appendix. There is a high chance of mortality if not treated, but the appendicectomy is one of the simplest surgical procedures. The traditional laparotomy last less than an hour, and the newer (and with lower tissue damage) laparoscopic surgery takes about two hours.
The procedure is basically removing the appendix and the inflammated tissue and examining the area thoroughly.
The recovery depends on whether or not there have been complication during surgery, or also if the more complex condition of a ruptured appendix is present. But recovery can take - in the worst case up to 8 weeks.
What do you think of the newer methods of treatment? Like the single incision laparoscopic surgery?

[Shahid]

In the case of single incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS) a single small incision may be used at the entry point. All surgical instruments are placed through this small incision and also the incision site is located in the left abdomen or umbilicus. According to http://singleincisionlaparoscopicsurgery.in/ the SILS benefits from fewer scars and gives an opportunity of less pain and shorter recovery period. SILS is one of the newest laparoscopic techniques and it is regarded as non-invasive. In general, SILS techniques take about the same amount of time to do as traditional laparoscopic surgeries. However, SILS is recognized as to be a more complicated procedure because it involves manipulating three articulating instruments through one access port.
So it has its own merits and demerits. Being a newer technique one can only expect that if the future studies are able to prove its efficacy there should be no doubt that it may receive more acceptability.

[iceiscool]

There has been always a question as to whether there are long term effects after the appendix was removed. So far studies show that the appendix has no vital function in the body. However, there have been notes that in some cases, the absence of the appendix lead to a possible risk of diseases like Crohn's disease.

Source: http://www.medicinenet.com/appendicitis/article.htm