title: Interval routine appendectomy following conservative treatment of acute appendicitis: Is it really needed.
abstract: Conservative management of acute appendicitis (AA) is gradually being adopted as a valuable therapeutic choice in the treatment of selected patients with AA. This approach is based on the results of many recent studies indicating that it is a valuable and effective alternative to routine emergency appendectomy. Existing data do not support routine interval appendectomy following successful conservative management of AA; indeed, the risk of recurrence is low. Moreover, recurrences usually exhibit a milder clinical course compared to the first episode of AA. The role of routine interval appendectomy is also questioned recently, even in patients with AA complicated by plastron or localized abscess formation. Surgical judgment is required to avoid misdiagnosis when selecting a conservative approach in patients with a presumed "appendiceal" mass.
authors.affiliation: George H Sakorafas, Dimitrios Sabanis, Christos Lappas, Aikaterini Mastoraki, Vasileios Smyrniotis, 4th Department of Surgery, Athens University, Medical School, Attikon University Hospital, GR-115 26 Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: George H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Sakorafas
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sabanis
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lappas
authors.forename: Aikaterini
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mastoraki
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Papanikolaou
authors.forename: Charalambos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Siristatidis
authors.forename: Vasileios
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Smyrniotis