Ask your doctor if antibiotics are an option for appendicitis

[MillCreek]

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2014320

In some situations, antibiotics are a viable treatment option for appendicitis.

[Ben]

Interesting. As a layman, I just figured once people were in enough distress to see the doctor, that things were at the point that the appendix had to go. A non-invasive option is always a plus.

[Hawkmoon]

After reading the article, the antiobiotic option doesn't strike me as being particularly attractive. Three months out, a third of those who took the antibiotics had to undergo appendectomy anyway. I'd ratther just get it over with.

[Silver Bullet]

things were at the point that the appendix had to go.

That's what I always thought, that appendicitis is very time critical.  If you let the appendix burst you have a bunch of new problems with the infection spreading through your system.

That's why I always advocate for an appendix transplant, if you can find a donor in time!   

[grampster]

An acquaintance of mine back in the 80's had a burst appendix.  He was in the hospital at least a week and had a bed and medical apparatus set up in his living room at home where he was bedridden for nearly a month with nurses visits nearly every day.  He nearly died from the infection.

[Fly320s]

Eat your yogurt and probiotics.

[K Frame]

I forget who it was, but a bit baseball star in the 1960s or 1970s came down with chronic appendicitis during the season. He didn't want to take time out of the pennant race so they treated him with antibiotics.

Worked well enough that he got through the season and had it yanked after the playoffs. It was a calculated risk.

These days, though, with laproscopic surgery being what it is, it's almost silly not to have it pulled at the first sign of trouble.

[MillCreek]

My ex-wife, the independent duty corpsman, was trained to manage appendicitis with antibiotics, if she was in a remote duty station or sea deployment in which surgery was not readily available.  She was also trained to do an appendectomy if it came to that.

[grampster]

Laproscopic surgery is a terrific advance.  I had my gall bladder out that way.  Outpatient.  Surgery around 11AM and enroute home around 4PM.

The DaVinci robot is another medical marvel.  I had my cancerous prostate removed using the DaVinci.  5 holes in my abdomen.   I was allowed to go home the day after the surgery, though I stayed one extra day.  The University of Michigan hospital has a hotel in the hospital which made that an easy choice as we had about 125 mile drive home.  Recovery time with regular surgery is a longer hospital stay and at least 6 weeks recovery.  I was pretty much fine after a little over 2 weeks.

[K Frame]

Mtnbkr had his gall bladder out lapro style maybe 10-12 years ago or so. The only problem he had with it was he sneezed suddenly and didn't have time to brace. He said that was sporty.

I did a little more digging into this, and while I've not found the name of the star I'm remember, I did find an article about Stan Musial having appendix trouble in the late 1940s and they treated it with... freezing. I'd never heard of that before.

Also found an article from 1996 that mentioned that Brady Anderson had an appendix flare and that he didn't undergo surgery. From the article, Lapro appendix removal was a thing back then.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/wellness/1996/07/30/playing-baseball-with-appendicitis/62cc14e2-580e-4e8d-92ee-6f5196de117e/#:~:text=When%20Baltimore%20Orioles%27%20star%20Brady%20Anderson%20recently%20announced,of%20sport%20may%20sometimes%20be%20possible%2C%20even%20admirable.

[AJ Dual]

An acquaintance of mine back in the 80's had a burst appendix.  He was in the hospital at least a week and had a bed and medical apparatus set up in his living room at home where he was bedridden for nearly a month with nurses visits nearly every day.  He nearly died from the infection.

When I was 19 years old, I had appendicitis. The pain wasn't acute, and presented as a feeling of fullness and pressure. After taking Tylenol and sleeping on it for a few hours, and then it keeping me up for the rest of the night, I finally went to the ER early in the morning, about 5am, on the chance it was something serious, but expecting it to be just some unusual GI distress and to be sent home.

That's when I spiked a fever, and started vomiting. Labs came back with elevated white cells etc.

They admitted me for an appendectomy, but being otherwise young and healthy, I kept getting bumped for emergency surgeries and waited until 2pm to go under the knife. By then it had burst. So I wound up staying in the hospital for a week on IV antibiotics.

No complications otherwise.

[lee n. field]

My ex-wife, the independent duty corpsman, was trained to manage appendicitis with antibiotics, if she was in a remote duty station or sea deployment in which surgery was not readily available.  She was also trained to do an appendectomy if it came to that.

Way back in the day (late '70s) a friend of our was working on getting into med school.  It took her a couple years of trying before she got accepted.  (She's a dr. with the CDC now, last I heard.).  Anyway, in that intermediate period she did a short stretch volunteering with a medical missionary in Thailand.  Anyway, according to her, appendectomies were fairly common there.  And not difficult to do.