“Can I eat if I suspect appendicitis?”
I am a 30 year old male. I wonder if I can eat if I suspect appendicitis?
11 Answers
If suspect appendicitis, should not eat. Should be evaluated. It is mostly surgical in nature, so need to have empty stomach to be as safe as possible for an operation.
If you suspect appendicitis it is best not to eat. The main reason is that if you do have appendicitis and you need emergency surgery, having an empty stomach makes the anesthesia safer. A full stomach at the start of anesthesia could lead to vomiting, and if it gets down into your lungs, you could develop severe and even life threatening pneumonia.
No. Usually, you would not have an appetite anyway. If surgery is a possibility, it is always best to have no food.
If you think you have appendicitis, go immediately to the ER and don’t eat beforehand.
Of course not. You are likely to vomit and most likely your appetite will be poor. Nothing by mouth will rest your digestive gut to avoid runs which will lead to dehydration. Emergency surgery will require nothing by mouth at least 4 hours to prevent aspiration.
If you strongly believe you have appendicitis and are heading to the emergency room for evaluation, you should not eat. Your surgeon (and anesthesiologist) will prefer that you have an empty stomach if you are going to the operating room for an appendectomy. An empty stomach reduces the change of inhaling stomach contents into your lungs while under anesthesia. Inhalation pneumonia can be a serious and sometimes life-threatening complication of any surgical procedure.
Noting the above, you can eat small to moderate amounts of food if you are hungry and have mild abdominal pains. You should not force yourself to eat if you are nauseous and vomiting. A subtle sign of appendicitis is loss of appetite. If you maintain a strong appetite, that could be a sign that your abdominal pains might be from something other than appendicitis. Significant and/or persistent abdominal pains should be evaluated by a physician regardless of eating.
Noting the above, you can eat small to moderate amounts of food if you are hungry and have mild abdominal pains. You should not force yourself to eat if you are nauseous and vomiting. A subtle sign of appendicitis is loss of appetite. If you maintain a strong appetite, that could be a sign that your abdominal pains might be from something other than appendicitis. Significant and/or persistent abdominal pains should be evaluated by a physician regardless of eating.
One important reason NOT to eat if you have acute appendicitis is that you will likely be going to surgery under general anesthesia to treat appendicitis, and it is always better to have an empty stomach when you undergo general anesthesia to avoid vomiting and possibly getting aspiration and pneumonia. On the other hand if you feel hungry, you probably do not have acute appendicitis; but always check with your doctor or the ER for any new-onset abdominal pain, as symptoms vary between patients.
No, go to ER.
If the medical staff is planning Surgery you shouldn’t eat anything after midnight
Most people tend to get a loss of appetite (anorexia) when they have appendicitis.
If you think you have appendicitis, it is best for you not to eat anything and seek medical attention as soon as possible. The reason you do not want to eat if you have appendicitis is because the treatment of choice for appendicitis is surgery. In order to safely put you to sleep for the operation, the Anesthesiologist is not going to want anything in your stomach.
