OR / Prep · General Surgery · open
You’re scrubbing into
Open appendectomy
Why are we operating?
The classic muscle-splitting RLQ operation, and the traditional first case a student scrubs into.
Indication: Acute appendicitis, particularly where laparoscopy is unavailable or unsuitable.
The operation in 6 steps
01Incision
02Muscle-splitting approach
03Entering the peritoneum
04Finding & delivering the appendix
05Mesoappendix, base, removal
06Closure
Danger zones
Iliohypogastric nerve
Runs between the oblique layers; injury causes groin numbness and weakens the inguinal canal mechanism.
Cecum
Immediately deep to the peritoneum; the reason the peritoneum is tented before opening.
Appendiceal artery
An end artery in the mesoappendix, secure ligation is the operation's key vascular step.
Watch it done
Operative steps: open appendectomy
A short operative walk through the muscle-splitting approach, delivery of the appendix and the stump.
Source: Pediatric Surgery Operative · Watch on YouTube
Conceptual teaching for learners preparing to observe and assist under supervision, not operative instructions. Five minutes from now you should know why this operation exists, what its shape is, and which structures it is designed not to injure.