Although medical misdiagnosis is one of the most common forms of medical malpractice, the vast majority of instances of misdiagnosis of an ailment by a doctor go uncontested. Because it is necessary in a medical malpractice case to prove that the negligence of the doctor led to serious injury or death, if the misdiagnosis did not cause any substantial injury there is no way to win a lawsuit. But there are certain diseases and disorders which are very virulent and fast moving for which misdiagnosis can prove to be deadly for the patient. One of these disorders is appendicitis.
The main reason doctors misdiagnose appendicitis is because the symptoms of the disease mimic symptoms of a variety of different disorders. Symptoms of appendicitis include:
- Pain in the belly region--this pain may begin around the belly button
- Pain that gets stronger and moves to the right side
- Pain that continues to worsen rather than improve
- Pain that becomes more severe when you walk or cough
- Pain occurring in any other part of your belly or your side
- Nausea and vomiting
- Loss of appetite
- Constipation
- Back pain
- Slight fever
- Swollen abdomen
Other ailments which have very similar symptoms include:
- Gastroenteritis
- Kidney stone
- Constipation
- Pelvic inflammatory disease
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Crohn's disease
- Colitis
- Food poisoning
- Ectopic pregnancy
- Endometriosis
- Diverticulitis
While it is true that there can be a great degree of difficulty in differentiating the symptoms of appendicitis from the above mentioned disorders, it is a doctor's duty to perform every possible test to ensure that his or her diagnosis is correct.
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