Antibiotics can treat appendicitis for many patients, no surgery needed

Antibiotics can treat appendicitis for many patients, no surgery needed Skip to content Subscribe today Every print subscription comes with full digital access Subscribe Now Menu All Topics Health Humans Anthropology Health & Medicine Archaeology Psychology View All Life Animals Plants Ecosystems Paleontology Neuroscience Genetics Microbes View All Earth Agriculture Climate Oceans Environment View All Physics Materials Science Quantum Physics Particle Physics View All Space Astronomy Planetary Science Cosmology View All Magazine Menu All Stories Multimedia Reviews Puzzles Collections Educator Portal Century of Science Unsung characters Coronavirus Outbreak Newsletters Investors Lab About SN Explores Our Store SIGN IN Donate Home INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM SINCE 1921 SIGN IN Search Open search Close search Home INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM SINCE 1921 All Topics Earth Agriculture Climate Oceans Environment Humans Anthropology Health & Medicine Archaeology Psychology Life Animals Plants Ecosystems Paleontology Neuroscience Genetics Microbes Physics Materials Science Quantum Physics Particle Physics Space Astronomy Planetary Science Cosmology Tech Computing Artificial Intelligence Chemistry Math Science & Society All Topics Health Humans Humans Anthropology Health & Medicine Archaeology Psychology Recent posts in Humans Health & Medicine A simple shift in schedule could make cancer immunotherapy work better By Elie DolginFebruary 12, 2026 Health & Medicine This baby sling turns sunlight into treatment for newborn jaundice By Elie DolginFebruary 12, 2026 Health & Medicine Antibiotics can treat appendicitis for many patients, no surgery needed By Laura DattaroFebruary 10, 2026 Life Life Animals Plants Ecosystems Paleontology Neuroscience Genetics Microbes Recent posts in Life Ecosystems Food chains in Caribbean coral reefs are getting shorter By Erin Garcia de JesúsFebruary 11, 2026 Paleontology Fossilized vomit reveals 290-million-year-old predator’s diet By Jay BennettFebruary 11, 2026 Health & Medicine Tell Me Where It Hurts sets the record straight on pain — and how to treat it By Laura SandersFebruary 10, 2026 Earth Earth Agriculture Climate Oceans Environment Recent posts in Earth Earth Earth’s core may hide dozens of oceans of hydrogen By Nikk OgasaFebruary 10, 2026 Animals Some dung beetles dig deep to keep their eggs cool By Elizabeth PennisiFebruary 4, 2026 Climate Polar bears in the Barents Sea are staying fat despite rapid sea ice loss By Rebecca DzombakJanuary 29, 2026 Physics Physics Materials Science Quantum Physics Particle Physics Recent posts in Physics Physics A precise proton measurement helps put a core theory of physics to the test By Emily ConoverFebruary 11, 2026 Physics The only U.S. particle collider shuts down – so a new one may rise By Emily ConoverFebruary 6, 2026 Physics A Greek star catalog from the dawn of astronomy, revealed By Adam MannJanuary 30, 2026 Space Space Astronomy Planetary Science Cosmology Recent posts in Space Astronomy This inside-out planetary system has astronomers scratching their heads By Adam Mann17 hours ago Space Artemis II is returning humans to the moon with science riding shotgun By Lisa GrossmanFebruary 4, 2026 Physics A Greek star catalog from the dawn of astronomy, revealed By Adam MannJanuary 30, 2026 News Health & Medicine Antibiotics can treat appendicitis for many patients, no surgery needed After 10 years, more than half still did not need an appendectomy, new data show Appendicitis is a painful inflammation of the appendix (shown in pink). But in some cases, treatment with antibiotics rather than removing the organ can fix the problem. SEBASTIAN KAULITZKI/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Getty Images Plus By Laura Dattaro February 10, 2026 at 1:00 pm Share this:Share Share via email (Opens in new window) Email Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X Click to print (Opens in new window) Print More than half of people who receive antibiotics to treat appendicitis do not see their disease come back 10 years after the initial illness, a new study shows. The data come from one of the first clinical trials of the approach and bolster newly updated guidelines for treating appendicitis. A quarter of a million people get appendicitis every year in the United States, when a blockage or infection inflames the appendix. For more than a century, doctors treating appendicitis have usually removed the organ, for fear it might rupture and cause severe infection. But in the last decade or so, trials of antibiotics have shown that appendicitis often resolves without surgery. Sign up for our newsletter We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday. In 2009, researchers in Finland began the Appendicitis Acuta trial, treating 530 adults with appendicitis with either appendectomy or antibiotics. All patients were diagnosed with uncomplicated appendicitis, where the appendix is inflamed but hasn’t ruptured or developed infected pockets. After 10 years, the team was able to contact 224 out of 257 people who’d received antibiotics, and 219 out of 273 who’d had an appendectomy. For those they couldn’t reach, they searched health records for outcomes. A total of 112 patients who’d received antibiotics ended up having an appendectomy — 70 patients in the first year, 30 people between two and five years later, and 12 people between six and 10 years later, the researchers report January 21 in JAMA. The study protocol required an appendectomy for anyone with suspected recurrence, so it’s possible some of those additional surgeries were not needed, says principal investigator Paulina Salminen, a surgeon at the Turku University Hospital in Finland. Two of the patients treated with antibiotics reported new complications between the five- and 10-year marks, both related to a subsequent appendectomy; two people in the appendectomy group reported new scar numbness or pain. “You don’t have to operate,” Salminen says. “The majority can be treated without appendectomy, and it is safe for the patients” in the long-term. In addition to helping patients avoid surgery, antibiotics treatment could save money by using hospital resources more efficiently and helping people avoid sick time, Salminen says. Between 60 and 70 percent of people with acute appendicitis have the uncomplicated kind, making them eligible for antibiotics, she estimates. The findings provide reassurance that antibiotics are a reasonable treatment, says David Flum, a surgeon at the University of Washington in Seattle. Flum is an investigator on the Comparison of Outcomes of antibiotic Drugs and Appendectomy, or CODA, trial, a U.S.-based trial modeled after the Finnish study. The latest results are “just a little bit more reassurance for folks who want to go the antibiotic route that it’s not inev