Early antibiotic treatment is superior to observation for avoiding surgical exploration in acute appendicitis

Acute appendicitis patients were randomly assigned to receive either antibiotic treatment with active observation or classic observation without antibiotic treatment. The study found that early antibiotic treatment was more effective in avoiding surgical exploration and appendectomy compared to the observation group. The antibiotic group had a lower rate of appendectomy at the first hospital stay (28% compared to 53% in the observation group).