I chose to discuss this article after encountering a patient with acute appendicitis. The first line treatment is appendectomy, however, controversy exists since conservative therapy may have fewer complications than surgery. This article was a meta-analysis that compared the outcomes between conservative treatment with antibiotics and appendectomy in adults with acute appendicitis. The outcomes observed were adverse effects, length of hospital stay, and efficacy.

There was a total of 11 trials and 2,751 patients that were studied. What researchers found was that patients receiving conservative treatment had a lower overall effective rate and complication rate. This group also had a higher reoperation rate than the group receiving appendectomies. Conservative treatment was associated with a shorter length of hospital stay, however, a higher relapse rate.

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31412833