[HTML1] The human appendix is an unusual organ. Why? Because it has no known function. But in this segment of Your Health Matters, host Christopher Springmann speaks with Dr. Danny Little, Chief of Pediatric Surgery for Scott & White Healthcare, who explains how this possibly obsolete organ can lead to big trouble here and now. “Appendicitis,” says Dr. Little, “is a condition where the appendix, which is a tube about the size of your pinky finger, gets blocked off. Perhaps it’s lymph nodes in the appendix that swell. It could be a small piece of stool that gets in the appendix and causes back pressure and swelling, and the appendix continues to swell to the point where the blood supply is injured, the organ becomes infected and could rupture.” When a child complains of a painful tummy ache, parents have a 48-hour window to avoid the possible complications of a ruptured appendix.
More about Danny Little
Dr. Danny C. Little is Chief of Pediatric Surgery for Scott & White Healthcare. He divides his duties between the Round Rock, TX clinic and Temple, TX hospital. Dr. Little earned a B.S. from Oklahoma State University at Stillwater, and an M.D. from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. He trained in general surgery at Texas A&M University and the Central Texas Veterans Administration, in surgical critical care at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and in pediatric surgery at Indiana University. He’s certified by the American Board of Surgery in general, critical care and pediatric surgery and serves as Assistant Professor of Surgery at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine. Dr. Little joined Scott & White Healthcare in 2009 with a patient care emphasis on burn and wound care, decortication for empyema, minimally invasive laparoscopic, newborn surgery, ovarian lesions, pediatric trauma & critical care, prenatal consults, surgical education, thoracoscopic surgery, and urologic conditions.
More about Scott & White Healthcare
When Arthur C. Scott, M.D. and Raleigh R. White Jr., M.D. began their medical practice in Temple, Texas in 1897, they shared one fundamental conviction: medicine must serve the people. Today, Scott & White Healthcare is a fully integrated health system — the largest multi-specialty practice in Texas and the sixth largest group practice in the nation. Scott & White employs more than 1,100 health care providers and research scientists who care for patients covering 25,000 square miles across Central Texas.
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