A misconception is that the crisis of appendicitis is a synonym of passage on the operating table. A new study published on 25 September in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and relayed by Ouest-France has yet to prove the contrary. According to the authors of the works who work for the university hospital of Turku in Finland, an alternative treatment with antibiotics is preferred in some cases.
In detail, the scientists have organized a panel of 530 Finnish patients between the ages of 18 to 60 years suffering from an inflammation of the appendix acute uncomplicated into two groups : those in which appendicitis has been removed, or 273 people, and those who have received antibiotic treatment, or 257. The objective of their research was ” to determine the rate of recurrence and late appendicitis after antibiotic therapy “.
The short-term results support the use of antibiotics.
Verdict : five years later, two-thirds of the patients who had received antibiotic treatment have not been other crises. The rate of complications was also higher in the group who underwent an appendectomy (24,4% versus 6.5 %). “The short-term results support the use of antibiotics as an alternative to surgery for the treatment of acute appendicitis, non-complicated,” the researchers explain. They warn, however : “The long-term results are not known. “
These results could change medical practices. In France, the crisis of appendicitis is considered a medical emergency that requires immediate surgery, for fear that the appendix explodes and puts the patient’s life in danger. Thanks to the imaging tests, the risk may now be identified and the use of the operation decreases. The national Academy of surgery lists is now less than 80 000 operations in france, compared with 270 000 operations of appendicitis in 1986.
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