Intravenous antibiotic therapy after laparoscopic appendectomy in acute complicated appendicitis: the patient clinical response is the key.

Introduction: The guidelines about acute complicated appendicitis (ACA) recommend 3-5 days of postoperative intravenous antibiotics (IVA). Nevertheless, the time selected by the surgeon can vary according to patient clinical response, ACA type, and professional experience. Once an adequate clinical response is obtained, the change from IVA to oral antibiotic (OA) could be realized without the waiting time established with satisfactory results.

Objective: Determine if a short course of IVA and/or switch to oral route is safe based on the patient clinical response.

Materials and methods: Observational prospective cohort study from a general surgery reference center database since July 2019.

Results and conclusion: 48 patients with ACA intraoperative findings were included. Regarding postoperative antibiotic management, only preoperative IVA: 7 (14.58%), IVA 1-3 days: 1 (20.83%), IVA 1-3 days and change to OA: 21 (43.75%), IVA > 3 days: 6 (12.5%), and only OA: 3 (27.08%). The bivariate analysis did not show statistically significant differences in reconsultation (p = 0.81), rehospitalization (p = 0.44), and surgical site infection (p = 0.56) between the antibiotic scheme based on the postoperative clinical response and the traditional one regarding intra-abdominal collection rate, the hospital stays, and hospitalization costs.