St. Louis Children’s Hospital and the Washington University Division of Pediatric Surgery will start enrolling children in a multi-institutional trial comparing non-operative treatment of early appendicitis to appendectomy. This study expands on results from a pilot study at Nationwide Children’s Hospital which showed that treatment with antibiotics alone is a reasonable option for pediatric acute appendicitis. Children who are between 8-17 years old, have had abdominal pain less than 48 hours, and appendicitis confirmed by ultrasound or CT will be offered the choice of taking antibiotics alone or undergoing appendectomy. Study outcomes include failure of treatment with antibiotics alone, and complications, return to activities, resource expenditure, and quality of life for both antibiotics and appendectomy.
SLCH is one of ten participating children’s hospitals within the Midwest Pediatric Surgical Consortium. Enrollment begins July 2015.
Please contact Jacqueline Saito, MD, MSCI, Site Principal Investigator, at [email protected], or Karen Lukas, RN, Site Study Coordinator, at [email protected] or (314) 454-6022 with any questions about this new study.
