Some kids with appendicitis to get drugs instead of surgery in major new trial
At least 60 patients will be recruited for a year-long trial after scientists found drugs may be better than surgery, the standard treatment for more than a century
KIDS with appendicitis will soon get antibiotics instead of going under the knife.
At least 60 patients will be recruited for a year-long trial after scientists found drugs may be better than surgery, the standard treatment for more than a century.
An appendectomy is the most common emergency op for children. If the inflamed organ is left, it can burst and lead to death.
Surgical removal is the normal course of action and is known as an appendectomy.
A year-long feasibility trial is now being launched in England which will see kids with appendicitis randomly allocated to have either surgery or antibiotic treatment to compare their outcomes.
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Prof Nigel Hall, of Southampton University, is leading the trial which starts next month.
A similar trial in Finland found most kids treated with antibiotics did not need ops later.
He said: "We want to explore if antibiotics can do a better job. We want 60 to 70 children, maybe more.
“Half will be given antibiotics and the others surgery. It will be on a pot-luck basis.
“Then we can compare methods. I know some parents will be nervous.”
Professor Hall and colleagues reviewed previous research but found no safety concerns or specific problems where antibiotics had been used instead of surgery.
What does the appendix do?
His team looked at literature published over the past decade that included ten studies on 413 children who had non-surgical treatment.
Appendicitis will be diagnosed in around seven out of every 100 Brits during their lifetime. It mainly affects children and teenagers.