An appendicectomy (or appendectomy) is the surgical removal of the vermiform appendix. This procedure is normally performed as an emergency procedure, when the patient is suffering from acute appendicitis. In the absence of surgical facilities, intravenous antibiotics are used to delay or avoid the onset of sepsis; it is now recognized that many cases will resolve when treated non-operatively. In some cases the appendicitis resolves completely; more often, an inflammatory mass forms around the appendix. This is a relative contraindication to surgery.
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute has approved funding awards totaling $258 million to support 26 new research studies.
Outpatient antibiotic management of selected patients with appendicitis is safe, allowing many patients to avoid surgery and hospitalization, and should be considered as part of shared decision-making between doctor and patient.
Individuals with obesity were at least two times more likely to develop certain types of cancer and 3.5 times more likely to die from from the disease than those who had weight-loss surgery, according to a new study presented here today at the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Annual Meeting.
Owen Loney's surprise bill resulted from an emergency appendectomy in 2019 at a Richmond, Virginia, hospital.
With numerous recent studies demonstrating that antibiotics work as well as surgery for most uncomplicated appendicitis cases, the non-surgical approach can now be considered a routine option, according to a review article in JAMA.
Antibiotics are now an accepted first-line treatment for most people with appendicitis, according to final results of the Comparing Outcomes of antibiotic Drugs and Appendectomy (CODA) trial, and an updated treatment guideline for appendicitis from the American College of Surgeons.
Most patients who underwent laparoscopic appendectomy (surgical removal of the appendix) or cholecystectomy (surgical removal of the gallbladder) found virtual follow-up care more convenient than traditional in-person appointments, yet equally as satisfying, according to a study published as an "article in press" on the website of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
After an appendectomy, a quarter (24.8%) of all children wanted a stronger pain treatment in the first 24 hours after their operation.
An RCSI study conducted in Beaumont Hospital in Dublin has found that surgery, rather than antibiotics-only, should remain as the mainstay of treatment for acute uncomplicated appendicitis.
Henry Ford Health System surgeons involved in the study say patients should choose the best option in consultation with their physician.
Antibiotics may be a good choice for some, but not all, patients with appendicitis, according to results from the Comparing Outcomes of antibiotic Drugs and Appendectomy (CODA) Trial reported today in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Seven of 10 adults with appendicitis can safely avoid surgical removal of their appendix (appendectomy) for at least several months by receiving a course of antibiotics, according to early results of a U.S. study that is the largest to compare use of these drugs alone versus an operation for appendicitis treatment.
Results of a first-of-its-kind clinical trial shed light on when antibiotics instead of surgery might be the better choice for treating appendicitis in some patients, according to researchers with The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, who led the Houston trial sites.
Surgical patients who participate in virtual follow-up visits after their operations spend a similar amount of time with surgical team members as those who meet face-to-face.
Pregnant women who underwent immediate surgery to treat a ruptured or abscessed appendix and their fetuses had significantly better outcomes than those whose condition was managed without an operation.
Computed tomography (CT) is used at a higher rate than ultrasound in children with developmental and cognitive impairments to diagnose appendicitis, even though CT scans increase radiation risk in smaller bodies.
Appendicitis is the most common cause for emergency abdominal surgery in childhood, affecting 80,000 children in the United States each year, but nonoperative treatment options are viable.
U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Thomas Carper (D-Del.) are calling on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to lift regulations that deny insurance coverage for obesity drugs and that limit coverage of Intensive Behavioral Therapy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS), the leading organization of bariatric surgeons and integrated health professionals in the nation, declared metabolic and bariatric surgery "medically necessary and the best treatment for those with the life-threatening and life-limiting disease of severe obesity" and called for the safe and rapid resumption of procedures, which have been largely postponed along with other surgeries deemed elective amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
A new study published in the journal JAMA Surgery in February 2020 shows that patients with acute appendicitis that were successfully treated either by antibiotics or by appendectomy had identical satisfaction with their treatment and identical quality of life over the long term. The patients who were first treated conservatively and then had appendectomy had lower satisfaction rates.