Appendicitis treatments for Kepler Bb humanoids

[caters]

My Kepler Bb humanoids have a very useful appendix. It not only stores good bacteria but it also digests cellulose into simple sugars that are then absorbed into the blood. Thus, an appendectomy is not best for appendicitis treatment. Other treatments do better for them.

So I got into detail on this on 2 pieces of paper and the first thing I did was separate Appendicitis and form sort of a tree of possibilities.

So first I separated it by cause into Viral TB(a virus that can infect any part of the body and has 2 phases) and Other causes(which includes calcified poop, abdominal trauma, and thick mucus plug)

Then I separated Viral TB into Active and Latent(the 2 phases of the virus) and Other causes into Acute and Chronic

In the active phase of Viral TB, the virus invades cells of the appendix and so swelling occurs but the appendix is not blocked at this point so if there is appendix pain, it is pretty mild.

In the latent phase of Viral TB, the already swollen appendix is blocked by granulomas and this leads to classic appendicitis symptoms and sometimes a ruptured appendix.

Acute appendicitis is easier to diagnose and gets disastrous quickly. Chronic appendicitis is harder to diagnose and may stay insignificant for years.

And I also thought of 4 treatments for appendicitis that should work for certain situations.

Those 4 are:

• Appendectomy
• Appendix drainage via colonoscopy
• IV antibiotics
• Nothing(so immune system all on its own)

In early appendicitis where the appendix is not inflamed much and that is not caused by Viral TB, I think the best treatment is nothing if it is chronic and IV antibiotics if it is acute.

In late appendicitis where the appendix is significantly inflamed, I think the best treatment is appendix drainage to prevent rupture.

However, if it has already ruptured, then there is no point in trying to preserve the appendix and so appendectomy is best.

If it is Viral TB in the active phase, then I think the best treatment is nothing.

If it is Viral TB in the latent phase I again separate it into Early, Late, and Ruptured appendix.

For Early or Late appendicitis cause by Viral TB in the latent phase, appendix drainage is best(antibiotics won't work because it is a virus and antivirals won't work because it is completely antiviral resistant).

For a ruptured appendix, again appendectomy is best.

Now the reason I think appendectomy should only be done for a ruptured appendix is really 2 reasons.

1. A ruptured appendix would already be dead
2. The appendix digests cellulose as well as stores good bacteria and a significantly inflamed but not ruptured appendix is still an alive appendix.

But are these treatments depending on stage and cause of appendicitis reasonable to preserve the appendix as much as possible but with the risk of reoccuring appendicitis? I mean, if cellulose digestion is a normal function of their appendix, then an appendectomy would be worse off for them in most cases, especially vegetarians. So they would have to eat more food to compensate for a removed appendix. How much, I don't know.

And are there other alternatives to those 4 treatments that would also be reasonable for appendicitis?

[Jackalias]

Depending on the technology level you could replace it? Transplants or growing the organ somehow would work.

[kraftcheese]

I thought this was an ad-bot post from the title but I've been pleasantly surprised!

Is Kepler Bb the real life planet? I feel a little like I'm jumping into this halfway through your worldbuilding process; is there another post where you started the Kepler humanoids off?