Antibiotics Versus Appendectomy in the Treatment of Uncomplicated Acute Appendicitis

Background and Objective: Acute appendicitis is the most common cause of the acute abdomen in young adults, meanwhile appendicectomy is the traditional treatment for acute appendicitis, and recently there is an emerging support for trials of conservative management in patients with uncomplicated appendicitis. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of antibiotics in compared to appendectomy in treatment of uncomplicated acute appendicitis. Patients and Methods: This prospective study was conducted in East Erbil Emergency Hospital from December 2017 till February 2018. A total of 129 patients were allocated randomly, consisted of 75 (58.1%) female and 45 (41.9%) male, all patients who were older than 12 years and diagnosed as acute appendicitis were allocated randomly to two group 1st antibiotics who received oral and intravenous antibiotic for about 10 days, and 2nd appendectomy group who were conducted to surgery as primary treatment, follow up was done for one year. Results: In Antibiotic treated group 21 (32.8%) patients developed complications including 9 (14%) recurrences. Forty three (67.1%) patients experience total recovery with no complications or hospital admissions for about one year, while in appendectomy group nine (13.8%) appendixes were normal per-operatively, 10(15.3%) patients developed complications after primary appendectomy treatment including wound infection, incisional hernia and intestinal obstruction, and about 46(70.7%) patients experience total recovery with no complications or negative appendectomy. Conclusion: Antibiotic treatment seems to be successful option to treat uncomplicated acute appendicitis in patients diagnosed by conventional means.