In uncomplicated cases
Antibiotics may be enough to treat appendicitis
A Finish study of 530 people, ages 18 to 60, shows that antibiotics, not surgery, were enough to treat appendicitis. Three-fourths of patients treated with antibiotics recovered easily. And no patient who had surgery after a course of antibiotics was worse off because of waiting.
Antibiotics are appropriate only in uncomplicated appendicitis, not in cases where people have a perforated appendix, a blockage or another additional issue.
The study was done at Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland, and details were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Rick Good spent ten years in the newspaper business, including with The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and The Greenville News (Greenville, SC). He co-wrote, with Melinda Coleman, Rutledge to Riley: Governors of South Carolina, 1776–Present (Published by The Greenville News), and is the author of Mind Games Trivia #1 (Amazon). He has recently spent 15 years creating original trivia content through Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment and continues that with his new company, SGME Software. He edits The Smart Reader’s money, real estate, and business coverage.