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The human appendix averages 9 cm (3.5 in) in length, ranging from 5 to 35 cm (2.0 to 13.8 in). The diameter of the appendix is 6 mm (0.24 in), and more than 6 mm (0.24 in) is considered a thickened or inflamed appendix. The longest appendix ever removed was 26 cm (10 in) long. [3]
Ileum, caecum and colon of rabbit, showing Appendix vermiformis on fully functional caecum The human vermiform appendix on the vestigial caecum. The appendix was once believed to be a vestige of a redundant organ that in ancestral species had digestive functions, much as it still does in extant species in which intestinal flora hydrolyze cellulose and similar indigestible plant materials. [10]
Harry Hancock performed the first abdominal surgery for appendicitis in 1848, but he did not remove the appendix. [26] In 1889 in New York City, Charles McBurney described the presentation and pathogenesis of appendicitis accurately and developed the teaching that an early appendectomy was the best treatment to avoid perforation and peritonitis.
In humans, the vermiform appendix is sometimes called a vestigial structure as it has lost much of its ancestral digestive function.. Vestigiality is the retention, during the process of evolution, of genetically determined structures or attributes that have lost some or all of the ancestral function in a given species. [1]
In human anatomy, the vermiform appendix is sometimes classed as a vestigial remnant. Prosthesis is an artificial extension that replaces a body part, [ 9 ] and cybernetics is the study of computer technology in relation to organisms, which can include replacement or additional body parts.
The standard treatment for acute appendicitis involves the surgical removal of the inflamed appendix. [ 6 ] [ 12 ] This procedure can be performed either through an open incision in the abdomen ( laparotomy ) or using minimally invasive techniques with small incisions and cameras ( laparoscopy ).
Appendix – The appendix (or vermiform appendix; also cecal [or caecal] appendix; vermix; or vermiform process) is a finger-like, blind-ended tube connected to the cecum, from which it develops in the embryo. The cecum is a pouch-like structure of the colon, located at the junction of the small and the large intestines.
While the Vermes is no longer a taxonomic group, anatomists continue to use the description "vermiform" of animals or organs that are worm-shaped. The word root is Latin, vermes (worms) and formes (shaped). [3] A well known example is the vermiform appendix, a small, blind section of the gut in humans and a number of other mammals. [4]