Advantage of laparoscopic appendectomy is that it affords the surgeon the ability to evaluate the entire abdomen, which can be useful or diagnostic with adolescent female patients, in whom gynecologic conditions can often imitate appendicitis. Laparoscopic appendectomy is also useful for patients in whom the diagnosis is in question and patients who are obese. Almost no contraindications exist to the surgical treatment of appendicitis. It should be kept in mind, however, that certain patients with unrecognized perforated appendicitis may present in a state of florid septic shock. In these patients (and even in those who are not so ill), one must ensure that the patient receives adequate fluid resuscitation and appropriate broad-spectrum antibiotics before proceeding to the operating room.