Twenty-two of 24 patients (92%) treated with antibiotics had initial resolution of symptoms. Of these 22, only 1 patient (5%) had recurrence of acute appendicitis during follow-up. Overall, 62% of patients have not had an appendectomy during the follow-up period. This pilot trial suggests that nonoperative treatment of acute appendicitis in children is feasible and safe and that further investigation of nonoperative treatment is warranted.

Our data show no difference in outcome between open and laparoscopic surgery for acute appendicitis in children in regard of complications. The initial assumption that the patients treated with laparoscopic surgery had a shorter postoperative stay was not confirmed with linear regression, which showed that the assumed difference was due only to a trend toward shorter postoperative length of stay over time, regardless of the surgical intervention.

In-hospital delay of acute appendectomy in children was not associated with an increased rate of histopathologic perforation. Timing of surgery was not an independent risk factor for postoperative complications. The results were not dependent on the magnitude of the surgical delay. The findings are analogous with previous findings in adults and may aid the utilization of available hospital- and operative resources.