Case Study on Appendicitis

Running head: CASE STUDY ON APPENDICITIS
CASE STUDY ON APPENDICITIS
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CASE STUDY ON APPENDICITIS
Appendicitis can be described as the inflammation of the appendix that is actually a
finger shaped pouch that remains projected in the colon on the right side of the abdomen. It
results in huge pain on the right side of the abdomen and in severe condition; the appendix might
burst spilling out infectious fluid internally in the abdomen that results in peritonitis, another
severe condition (Drake et al., 2014). This assignment would be mainly based on caring for a
pediatric patient who needed to undergo appendectomy due to severity of the appendicitis that
followed peritonitis. Developmental theories, family centered care and effect of hospitalization
on child would be discussed in the assignment.
Appendicitis occurs when the appendix of the individuals become severely inflamed.
Researchers have not been able to understand the exact reasons about the occurrence of
appendicitis but they have put forward different hypothesis explaining the occurrences of the
appendicitis (White et al., 2016). One of the most accepted reasons is that the lumen of the
appendix is blocked by fecoliths as well as normal fecal matter or might be due to lymphoid
hyperplasia that might occur because of the viral infection. Studies have shown that when the
lumen of the appendix becomes obstructed, it results in the reduction of the flow of the blood to
the tissues and therefore the bacteria is seen to get multiplied. The lumen of the appendix being
obstructed, the pressure within the organ is seen to be increased and this results in the reduction
of the venous drainage (Alvarado, 2018). This might result in the occurrence of ischemia. When
such conditions of the ischemia are seen to be untreated, it can lead to situations of necrosis as
well as gangrene. Many of these researchers call this stage the most vulnerable stage because this
stage remains at the higher risk where perforation might occur. It can take around 72 hours for
the perforation to occur when the obstruction occurs in the appendix. It is seen that when the
appendix is seen to perforate, bacteria and the inflammatory cells are released in the surrounding

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CASE STUDY ON APPENDICITIS
structures. This condition results in the development of inflammation of the peritoneum region.
This makes the child develop the peritonitis symptoms and this is seen to result in the diffusion
of the abdominal pain. The patient named Anne also had to undergo the surgery of
appendectomy where the appendix had been completely removed. Perforation had already
occurred in the appendix and infectious fluid had released put causing peritonitis. This made her
suffer from pain in the right iliac fossa that required treatment.
One of the most important developmental theories that the nursing professional could use
is the Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory. This theory mainly describes development of a
child’s thought procedures. This theory mainly gives the nurses an idea about the four stage
model about the different ways the mind processes new information which are encountered. The
stage where the child named Anne belongs is called the concrete operations stage (Lefafa et al.,
2014). This stage is mainly seen to extend from the age 7 to that of age 11. During this time, the
child is seen to accumulate physical experiences and child learns to accommodate. The child
learns to develop logical structures of reasoning in associating their physical experiences with it
(De Ribaupierre, 2015). They tend to gain a better understanding of their mental operations and
tend to think logically about the different types of concrete events. However, they do not
understand any abstract as well as hypothetical concepts. Therefore, Anne might develop the
curiosity as to why such things happened with her and might want to know them from the nurse.
In such situation, it becomes important for the nurse to explain the entire causal factors and the
procedures of occurrence of the disease by which she can easily understand and does not feel
confused. It also becomes important for the professionals to discuss the entire situations in ways
by which she is not scared or depressed about the situation and therefore they have to be very