El Paso Children’s Hospital helping children battle appendicitis

Appendicitis is a medical emergency that requires prompt surgery to remove the appendix. But the El Paso Children’s Hospital is using its expertise to help combat the complication with ultrasounds.

“Typically El Paso Children’s provides high quality ultrasound for early detection and early diagnosis,” Pediatric radiologist Steven Ross said. “It’s a quick and accurate exam and we perform so many of them here, we have the expertise and knowledge to perform it accurately.”

If left untreated, an inflamed appendix will eventually burst, or perforate, spilling infectious materials into the abdominal cavity. Which is why EPCH said to come to the hospital sooner rather than later if you seen any symptoms.

“It is very important to find appendicitis early or early enough,” Ross said. “If you find it too late, then the appendicitis can burst and instead of being an outpatient surgery, you can spend weeks in the hospital.”

The staff told ABC-7 , it is the experience from the employees at Children’s that allows them to provide unparalleled care compared to other hospitals.

“We are the only ones that are fully dedicated to children’s,” Tamara Fitzgerald, pediatric surgeon said. “So we do offer a higher level of experience for ultrasounds and even CT if you have to have one for children’s care.”