Your appendix is a small tube of tissue that is attached to a part of your intestine called the

 

 

 

 

 

colon
Your colon is the first 2 metres (6 feet) of your large intestine. During digestion, food travels from your stomach to your small intestine and then to your large intestine. What's not digested then leaves your body as a bowel movement.

 

 

 

 

 

colon.

It sits in the lower right part of your abdomen and is about 2 inches to 4 inches long.

Doctors aren't exactly sure why some people get appendicitis, but they think that it tends to happen when the appendix gets blocked. Fluids, hard bits of stool or swollen

 

 

 

 

 

lymph nodes
Lymph nodes (also called glands) are small, bean-shaped lumps that you cannot usually see or easily feel. They are located in various parts of the body, such as the neck, armpit and groin. Lymph nodes filter the lymph fluid and remove unusual things, such as bacteria and cancer cells.

 

 

 

 

 

lymph glands can get trapped in the appendix, and when this happens, the appendix becomes

 

 

 

 

 

inflammation
If your skin or some other part of your body becomes red, swollen, hot or sore, we say it is inflamed. It means that your body is trying to protect you from germs, from something in your body tissues that can hurt you (like a thorn or sliver), or from things that cause allergies (allergens). Inflammation is part of the way the body heals an infection or injury.

 

 

 

 

 

inflamed or

 

 

 

 

 

infection
You get an infection when viruses, bacteria, fungi or other tiny organisms get into your body. These bugs are so tiny that you can't see them without a microscope. For example, an infection in your airways causes the common cold. And an infection in your skin can cause rashes such as athlete's foot.

 

 

 

 

 

infected. This leads to the painful symptoms of appendicitis.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Larner AJ
The aetiology of appendicitis.
British Journal of Hospital Medicine. 1988; 39 :540–542.

 

 

 

 

 

¹

If you have appendicitis you will normally need surgery to remove your appendix. But the appendix doesn't do anything very important. So taking it out won't cause problems with your digestion later.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
Appendicitis.
Available at http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/appendicitis/index.htm (accessed on 20 May 2008).

 

 

 

 

 

² If your appendix is inflamed and you don't have it taken out, you could have serious problems.

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