My 11 year old son went into the ER with abdominal pain, and was diagnosed with appendicitis a few hours later. They admitted him into the hospital, and scheduled surgery for the next afternoon, 12 hours after we arrived. By the time of surgery, his appendix had perforated and leaked into his abdominal cavity. He then spent 6 days in the hospital and 3 weeks on antibiotics. Why would surgery have been postponed for so long? Couldn't the rupture have been prevented had he not been operated on sooner?