Appendicitis is inflammation of the vermiform appendix, a small, finger-shaped pouch attached to the cecum in the lower right abdomen. Ultrasound is an important diagnostic tool for appendicitis, particularly in children and pregnant women, because it avoids the radiation exposure of CT scanning. On ultrasound, an inflamed appendix appears as a non-compressible, blind-ending tube measuring more than 6 millimeters in diameter, often with surrounding fluid or fat stranding. The graded compression technique, in which the sonographer applies gradually increasing pressure with the transducer to push bowel gas out of the way, is the standard approach for visualizing the appendix.
Sonography Term