Antibiotics Can Treat Appendicitis As Effectively As Surgery: Study

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Most appendicitis cases in children can be treated with antibiotics and families can opt to have this option than getting surgery, according to a U.S. study.

According to the study led by scientists at the Center for Surgical Outcomes Research at The Research Institute in Ohio's Nationwide Children's Hospital, antibiotics can be a safe and effective treatment for uncomplicated acute appendicitis in children. The details of the study are published in the journal JAMA Surgery.

There were 102 patients for the study and were around 7 to 17 years of age. The children had uncomplicated acute appendicitis, a condition where the appendix has not burst and pain in the abdominal area did not go past 48 hours. 37 children received the antibiotics treatment which involved 24 hours of intravenous fluids and 10 days of oral medicine while 65 others received surgery.

The researchers found that 95 percent of antibiotics group had improved conditions within 24 hours and did not require surgery. A year later, around 75 percent did not show signs of appendicitis reoccurring again, Reuters reports.

Children who got surgery ended up having 13 more days of resting period and a hospital bill of around $800.

"Surgery has long been the 'gold standard' of care for treating appendicitis because by removing the appendix we eliminate the chance that the appendicitis will ever come back," said Dr. Katherine Deans, co-author of the study and co-director at the Children's Hospital, via CBS News. "However, early in our careers, we noticed that patients with appendicitis who were placed on antibiotics overnight until their surgery the following morning felt better the next day. So, Pete and I asked ourselves: do they really need to have surgery?"

Dr. Peter Minneci, co-author of the study, explained that families who elected antibiotics before having their children go for surgery due to complications said it was worth going through in the hopes of avoiding undergoing the procedure.

The outlet adds that complications during appendectomies are significant and antibiotics as an alternative treatment could be safer. However, the researchers are not saying that it is necessarily better but an alternative for families.

"Most parents are concerned about having surgery, in general," said Dr. Deans, via Philly."They're also very concerned about anesthesia. Some parents are very concerned about appendicitis coming back. It's really a matter of aligning your preferences, your values, what you think is most important to you, with the treatment that is best for you and your family."