Can a pill be as effective as surgery?

Every year, 300,000 Americans with appendicitis are rushed into emergency surgery. Most are told that if the appendix is not immediately removed, it will burst — with potentially fatal consequences.

But now some doctors say there may another option: antibiotics.

Five small studies from Europe, involving a total of 1,000 patients, indicate that antibiotics can cure some patients with appendicitis; about 70 percent of those who took the pills did not require surgery. Those who wound up having an appendectomy after trying antibiotics first did not face any more complications that those who had surgery immediately.

http://www.startribune.com/can-a-pill-be-as-effective-as-surgery/304798241/