MEDICAL CARE

Mary, To begin with, it would be a good idea to avoid typing all capital letters, as you may receive more favourable replies to your question. I'm not entirely clear on your question? Web MD or other internet sites should provide some of the answers you're seeking. I assume your friend's daughter is under the care of a Physician, who provided the drops? I suspect the "drops" are an antibiotic, which will hopefully reduce the inflammation. You may find it helpful to have a look at THIS website for some information on the subject. Cheers!

First Mary do not panic, Switzerland is very advanced medically , ,likely more so then some places in your country, if they are giving her drops( vague) they are aware she is ill, but for clarity sake when you say "they " you DO mean a DOCTOR right, not just the family she is staying with, I assume this since lay men can't diagonose Appendicitis, doctors do. Symptoms are pain and fever, if she has a high fever and abdominal pain she should go to a clinic,,( not just gas and a fever of 99. 8) Never mind webmd, confirm she is seeing a medical doctor and has been to a clinic , then try and relax, they are not morons there.

If "THEY" are doctors that have seen and examined her, and "THEY" gave here only "SOM DROPS", she probably doesn't have appendicitis. The standard treatment is almost always surgery. If "THEY" are not doctors, and if appendicitis is a concern, then bottom line, she needs to be seen by a doctor.

Pat, Switzerland may be very advanced medically, however the patient is in Austria. The caveat that Switzerland is very advanced medically, " likely more so then some places in your country" is wrong, doctors, nurses and other medical professionals have to be licensed, registered and/or board certified in all 50 states, the U.S. does have medical standards, standards of care are no less in Alabama than Washington, California than Maine or Hawaii or North Carolina. Though I agree the question is vague and unclear, the symtoms of appendicitis are going to be the same in Austria, Australia, the United States or Japan for that matter, WebMD in the United States or Austria will tell you (the OP) the same thing, though the Austrian version may be hard to read unless the OP is fluent in German. I think either the OP only knows part of the situation and treatment or because of the OP's writing style only wrote part of what is being done for the patient.

The only treatment for appendicitis, if that's what it is, is surgery. The sooner the better. My sister just had hers removed 2 weeks ago. She had generalized stomach pain all day and then the next morning it moved to the lower right, which is one of the signs they tell you to look for. The pain may also start on the left side and then will move to the right. She went to the hospital 24 hours after it started and they did a test to confirm, and told her that she was still on the high end of normal, with regard to the inflammation. But they performed surgery on the day she checked in. Is your friend's daughter enrolled at an American school? Your friend should contact the school and they can put her in touch with the Austrian school, which should be able to provide more information.

While appendicitis is always serious, they don't always treat with surgery immediately any more. My appendix ruptured this summer (while I was traveling, unfortunately, AND pregnant, though I did make it home before being diagnosed), and if the appendix ruptures, they often evaluate whether the infection requires immediate surgery. Because I was pregnant, they really didn't want to operate immediately, and discussed putting in a stint to drain the infection, but even that ended up not being necessary. I was on antibiotics for the better part of a month (and in the hospital being monitored for almost a week), and elected (yes, I elected - it wasn't necessary) to have my appendix removed last week. My case was special, but based on what my surgeon told me, they are really rethinking whether the appendix should be removed immediately. If the infection can be contained by antibiotics, it's sometimes best to wait because if they go in surgically, they could disrupt and spread the infection which could make recovery even longer. Most times, the appendix is removed immediately, but not always, and they are finding that they may not need to remove it at all. I hope she is okay; I know I was extremely lucky. I'm not trying to minimize the importance of surgery - obviously I believe in it since I had my appendix removed! :-) Also, instead of asking for help on a travel board, you might want to call your general practitioner or a local (Salem, Ohio, not Austria) surgeon.