Duration of antibiotic treatment after appendicectomy for acute complicated appendicitis. BJS 2014; 101: 715-719.

Results

A total of 1143 patients with acute appendicitis underwent appendicectomy, of whom 267 (23·4 per cent) had complicated appendicitis. The duration of postoperative antibiotic treatment was 3 days in 135 patients (50·6 per cent) and at least 5 days in 123 (46·1 per cent). No difference was found between antibiotic treatment for 3 or 5 days in terms of developing an intra‐abdominal abscess (odds ratio (OR) 1·77, 95 per cent confidence interval 0·68 to 4·58; P = 0·242) or a wound infection (OR 2·74, 0·54 to 13·80; P = 0·223). In patients with complicated appendicitis, the laparoscopic approach was identified as a risk factor for developing an intra‐abdominal abscess in univariable analysis (OR 2·46, 1·00 to 6·04; P = 0·049), but was not confirmed as an independent risk factor for this complication in multivariable analysis (OR 2·32, 0·75 to 7·14; P = 0·144).