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Erschienen in:
01.01.2007 | Editorial
Appendicitis in children: one radiologist’s perspective
Erschienen in: Pediatric Radiology | Ausgabe 1/2007
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The papers presented in this minisymposium reinforce the prevalence of appendicitis and the breadth of pathologies that may present as an acute appendix. Recognized today as the most common reason for a child to require emergent surgery, the appendix as a primary cause of right lower quadrant disease was not suggested until 1827 by Francois Melier in France [1]. This notion, however, was slow to gain wide acceptance with most, who believed the cecum to be the primary site of disease. In 1886, Reginald Fitz of Boston first used the term “appendicitis” and continued the growing trend of advocating early operation [2]. When one reads the literature of the time, it is remarkable how closely the descriptions of appendicitis match those in the current literature. The examining surgeon’s approach to diagnosis, at least in writing, has also remained constant over time.…As it is often impossible to elicit a clear statement as to the exact seat of pain, the surgeon must depend greatly upon palpation … In examining an ill-trained child, or one under the age of ten years, the services of a specialist skilled in children’s diseases are of the utmost value, as he, from force of habit and long experience, will better understand the child nature and more readily elicit a response; he is also better fitted to estimate the value of symptoms under circumstances which would only confuse an ordinary observer.