Open appendectomy describes the removal of infected appendix from the lower abdomen by making an incision 2-4 inches deep. If the infected appendix has been ruptured and pus spread to the abdominal cavity, the entire area is cleaned and drained out to remove any traces of pus accumulated in the abdominal cavity.

In open appendectomy, the infected appendix, small portion of cecum and the wall surrounding the cavity are inspected thoroughly to reduce any further complications.

Open appendectomy surgery is executed under general anesthesia. Normally the surgery lasts for about one and half hours. But in cases where the appendix has been ruptured, it might take additional time to clean us been ruptured.

Important information’s that need to be shared to the surgeon before surgery include:

Share the list of meditations that are followed if any.

  • Allergic to any meditations
  • Bleeding disorders
  • Life style disorders like diabetes, blood pressure etc
  • Blood clots
  • Bone fractures
  • List of all surgeries if you have undergone any.

Considering the above mentioned medical conditions surgeon performs following test

  • Blood count test
  • Basic metabolic sheet
  • X-ray of abdomen
  • Ultrasound or CT Scan of abdomen

After the surgery post operative care is required for a short time. The patient is observed for a span of time for fast recovery. Special care should be taken to prevent any complications like pus formation near the wound, constipation, bleeding, fever or formation of blood clots. It takes about 2-3 weeks to fully recover from an Open Appendectomy surgery.

Nowadays Laparoscopic appendectomy is the most common surgery performed for the removal of appendix. But in some cases this becomes impossible because the internal organs can’t be viewed through a laparoscope inserted into the body. There are few reasons why an open surgery is recommended which include:

  • Mass infection and rupturing of the appendix
  • Overweight or obesity
  • Huge bleeding
  • Presence of scar tissues around the organ making it impossible to view the internal organs and cavity through a laparoscope.

Presence of scar tissue can lead to adhesiolysis surgery along with open appendectomy. Adhesions are found in majority of patients who have undergone previous abdominal surgeries. It’s a self repairing mechanism of the body to protect the internal organs. A band of tissues are developed around the area undergone surgery. Most of the adhesion tissues formed is painless. While some can cause restriction in bowel movement thereby causing pain, constipation and restriction in blood flow. These are provide within a few days of surgery but will remain trouble free for a long period of time until motion movements are restricted.

In such cases Surgeon performs adhesiolysis to remove the band of tissues that cause movement restrictions of the intestine along with the appendectomy surgery performed. There are no methods to find the presence of adhesions. Generally they are removed when the surgeon detects the presence of adhesions in the abdominal cavity while performing appendectomy.