Is it Appendicitis????

12 year old boy with an acute onset of abdominal pain.
Pain in the lower abdomen on the right side which is called right iliac fossa.
Examination shows---normal looking child with pain on n off,,no fever,,no vomiting,,has tenderness and minimal guarding(which means patient will double up with pain).

Usually we think it is Appendicitis.
But it is not with this patient.

On asking the patient states that he has been having flu symptoms since the last few days.

Usually what we do----
1)Get an US abdomen to rule out appendicitis or any other possibility.
2)get some blood tests done to rule out any infections.
3)get urine test to rule out infection in urine/kidneys.

Results-
US showed mesentric adenitis.

The diagnosis is MESENTRIC ADENITIS.
There is nil treatment.symptomatic treatment with panadol.
It's a self limiting problem and eventually gets better within 4-5 days.

Common medical presentations in children in general practice.

Simple upper respiratory infections in children can often lead to prompt attention situations like BRONCHIOLITIS , CROUP etc etc.
Usually in the age group under 1 year old.
Starts with symptoms of runny nose,cough and lead to Throat infection and can lead to complications like CROUP or Bronchiolitis ,which can be life threatening if not treated appropriately at an appropriate time.
There is no immunisation to prevent this medical condition.Most of these are of viral origin and does not need any antibiotics unless it is associated with bacterial infection like middle ear infection.
Please do see your GP for the assessment of the children even with mild flu symptoms.

Dr Bhalla.