San Diego—Currently in the United States, about twice as many adults with appendicitis are treated without an operation as 20 years ago, but nonoperative management of an infected appendix is linked to a higher death rate in the hospital, according to the first large U.S. study to look at long-term trends in appendicitis.
Studies in Europe over the past two decades have shown that some patients with uncomplicated appendicitis can be treated successfully with antibiotics alone. These