ABSTRACT
Objective: To compare antibiotic therapy and appendectomy in uncomplicated acute appendicitis in terms of efficacy
Study Design: Randomized controlled trial
Place and Duration of Study: Surgical Ward Forward Treatment Centre [FTC], 5 Mountain Medical Battalion Forward Kahuta Azad Jammu Kashmir [AJK], from Oct 2011 to Mar 2013
Material and Methods: A total of 103 patients with clinical diagnosis of acute appendicitis [AA] were admitted during the duration of study and divided into two groups by consecutive sampling. The antibiotic group consisted of 51 patients who received intravenous antibiotics for 48 hours and oral antibiotics for another 8 days. The appendectomy group comprised of 52 patients who all underwent standard appendectomy. All the patients were followed up at 1 month and 1 year for assessing efficacy and post treatment complications
Results: The efficacy of antibiotic treatment is 90.625% as compared to appendectomy which was 88.46% [p=0.759] at 1 month follow up after treatment. At one year post treatment, the comparison between the efficacy of antibiotic therapy [71.87%] and appendectomy [87.14%] remains statistically insignificant [p=0.055]
Conclusion: Antibiotic therapy is comparable to appendectomy in AA in terms of efficacy at 1 month and 1 year post treatment