Appendicitis · Guide
Appendicitis explorer: guide
Show the appendix within the body, enter its width, where its tip points and what the scan showed from the report, explain the treatment and share a matching picture sheet.
For patients and families
Look at the picture together
The picture opens with the whole body. Choose Abdomen to see the large bowel, then Appendix close-up to move close to the appendix, low on the right side of the tummy. The small bowel and the large bowel are see-through so the appendix can be seen. Drag to turn it and scroll or pinch to zoom.
Show what your scan found
Your clinician can enter how wide your appendix is on the ultrasound or CT report, where its tip points, and whether the report describes a collection of pus (an abscess), a burst (perforated) appendix or a small stone inside it (an appendicolith). The slice in the corner shows a cut across the appendix at the entered width, beside a dashed 6 mm circle as a general guide. The shapes are schematic, not a copy of your scan.
Things you could ask
“Can you show me where my appendix is, and what the scan found?”
“What would happen with each treatment?”
“What should I look out for when I go home?”
Take it home
Ask for a picture sheet with the views you discussed, your team’s explanation, what the appendix does and where to find help. A QR code reopens the same model settings on your phone. Names, notes and contact details are never included in that code or saved online.
For clinicians
Start with orientation
The explorer uses the colon, caecum, end of the small bowel and the base of the appendix from the colon explorer (the shared colon route), with the stomach, liver, small bowel, rectum and bladder, on the shared body, renderer and labels from the rectal explorer. The colon and small bowel are see-through. It opens at normal anatomy, with a normal appendix about 5 mm wide and no findings or treatment.
Set up from the report
| Control | What to set |
|---|---|
| Findings on the model | Add appendicitis. Changing any finding setting also adds it. |
| Appendix width (diameter) | 4–20 mm, the maximum outer diameter on ultrasound or CT, as written in the report. The number box and slider stay in step; the appendix is drawn at this width. The summary says that a normal appendix is usually under about 6 mm as a general guide, and that width alone does not make the diagnosis. |
| Where the tip points | Behind the caecum (retrocaecal), down into the pelvis (pelvic), or another position or not stated. For “another position” the appendix is drawn hanging below the caecum as an example, and the summary says so. Other positions (pre- or post-ileal, subhepatic) are not drawn separately. |
| What the scan showed | Inflamed only, a collection (abscess), or burst (perforated). A collection is drawn beside the tip at the entered size; a burst shows a hole near the tip with leaked fluid, schematically. |
| Size of the collection | 10–100 mm, the largest dimension of the collection. Changing it also sets the scan result to a collection. It is shown only when a collection is chosen. |
| Appendix stone (appendicolith) | Yes draws a small stone near the base of the appendix; its size and place are illustrative and not shown as a number. |
Explain a selected plan
Keyhole removal (laparoscopic appendicectomy) and open removal colour the appendix teal; After surgery shows the closed base (stump) on the caecum with the appendix gone, and three small keyhole cuts or one cut low on the right. Antibiotics alone draws nothing extra and says that the appendix stays and appendicitis can come back. Drain for an abscess, with antibiotics colours the collection teal (area treated) and draws the drain from the skin, when a collection is entered; After treatment shows the collection gone and the appendix still in place, and the text mentions a possible later (interval) appendicectomy. The team selects the plan; the model does not judge which treatment is suitable.
Picture sheet and QR code
Capture up to four views with Snapshot, then use Picture sheet (PDF). The sheet can include a help page with life after the treatment chosen. The QR link stores validated model settings only. Changing any model setting clears older snapshots.
Limits
- The body is an adult’s. Children, pregnancy and the position of the appendix in pregnancy are not shown.
- The appendix’s length, curve and the exact place of its tip are schematic. The collection, burst and stone are drawn schematically; fat stranding, free fluid, an appendix mass and peritonitis are not shown.
- Scores (such as the Alvarado or AIR score), blood tests and the choice between treatments are not modelled.
Sources and review
- NHS: appendicitis
- Di Saverio S and others. Diagnosis and treatment of acute appendicitis: 2020 update of the WSES Jerusalem guidelines. World Journal of Emergency Surgery, 2020.
- CODA Collaborative. A randomized trial comparing antibiotics with appendectomy for appendicitis. New England Journal of Medicine, 2020.
Practising general or colorectal surgeon and radiologist review is still needed for clinical teaching use. Please send corrections through feedback.