APPENDECTOMY VS ANTIBIOTIC THERAPY: INTEGRATIVE REVIEW

Abstract

Objective: To compare appendectomy with antibiotic therapy in terms of feasibility and safety for the treatment of uncomplicated acute appendicitis. Methods: This is a qualitative approach study through an integrative literature review. The databases used were PubMed, Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), and Cochrane Library (CL). The chosen descriptors, linked by the boolean operator "AND," for article search were "surgery," "antibiotic," "treatment," and "appendicitis." Experimental and observational studies between 2012-2022 were included, while irrelevant articles to the theme, meta-analyses, duplicates, and those without statistical relevance or suitable descriptors were excluded. Results: After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 19 articles remained. Among these, 4 did not find statistically significant results justifying the use of antibiotics as a safe and/or viable therapy for the treatment of uncomplicated acute appendicitis; 15 studies indicate the feasibility of antibiotic therapy. However, there are reservations regarding the failure rates, recurrence, and complications associated with the clinical approach. Final considerations: Although the results suggest practicality for antibiotic treatment, there is a lack of long-term efficacy data, making surgery the more widely considered method. Nevertheless, case-by-case analysis is still recommended.