DEAR DOCTOR K: Why do doctors remove the appendix when someone has appendicitis? Don’t we need this organ? DEAR READER: Appendicitis is an inflammation of the appendix. This small, fingerlike tube ...

For years, the appendix carried a reputation as the body’s most pointless organ. Doctors often removed it without hesitation, and textbooks labeled it a vestigial structure—something our ancestors ...

Pity the poor appendix, a 2- to 4-inch-long wormlike pouch dangling from the head of the cecum, where the large and small intestines meet. For most of its medical history — anatomists have known about ...

Maris Racal said she is now on the road to recovery after undergoing surgery for appendicitis. Racal shared a photo of herself lying in a hospital bed, holding a stuffed toy as she thanked her doctors ...