Could antibiotics replace appendectomies for patients suffering from appendicitis? Maybe, according to a new study showing that antibiotics may be just as successful as surgery for treating appendicitis in a majority of patients.

The Finnish study, published in JAMA, looked at 530 patients aged 18 to 60 who agreed to be randomly assigned a treatment for appendicitis. Around 270 underwent an open appendectomy, while the other 260 received a combination of IV and oral antibiotics.

Researchers discovered that the antibiotics were just as effective as the invasive surgery to treat the condition. About 75% of those who took the antibiotics recovered from their bout of appendicitis and did not require surgery in the following year for the condition. Additionally, the 25% that did need surgery after taking the antibiotics fared no worse after waiting, the researchers found.

"Among patients with CT-proven, uncomplicated appendicitis, antibiotic treatment did not meet the pre-specified criterion for non-inferiority compared with appendectomy," the study's authors conclude. "Most patients randomized to antibiotic treatment for uncomplicated appendicitis did not require appendectomy during the 1-year follow-up period, and those who required appendectomy did not experience significant complications."

But, the study comes with some limitations. Researchers note that the results only include patients with uncomplicated cases of appendicitis that were diagnosed using a CT scan. Additionally, The New York Times reports that some opponents of the study say that its inclusion of only open appendectomies hampers its results, and that the patients' 3-day hospital stay for IV ertapenem followed by 7 days of oral levofloxacin and metronidazole was overkill. The Times notes that a U.S. group is planning a similar study, but instead will look at laparoscopic surgery and a less powerful antibiotic.

Kendal Gapinski