Avaliação do uso da antibioticoterapia específica em substituição à abordagem cirúrgica da apendicite aguda: Uma Revisão Bibliográfica

Appendicitis is an inflammation of the vermiform appendix, usually caused by interference with its lumen, or which increases intraluminal pressure and causes inflammation. Its symptoms include anorexia, diarrhea, periumbilical colic, fever and pain in the right lower quadrant. Clinical signs such as Blumberg's, Rovsing's, Psoas and Obturator's are observed on physical examination. The standard treatment is appendectomy, which can be performed laparoscopically or openly. However, conservative treatment with antibiotics is a cost-effective alternative, speeding up hospitalization time and, in some cases, avoiding surgery. Objective: To evaluate the use of antibiotics as an alternative to surgery in cases of acute appendicitis. Methodology: This is an integrative literature review, with a qualitative and retrospective approach, whose guiding question is “Could antibiotic therapy replace the surgical approach in cases of acute appendicitis?”. The indexes “Appendicitis”, “Antibiotics” and “Appendectomy” were used, together with the Boolean operators “AND” and “OR”. The data was found in official databases, so that it was collected and analyzed between December 2023 and February 2024. Results and Discussion: With an analysis of 14 articles published between 2015 and 2023, the studies set out to compare conservative treatment with antibiotics and surgical treatment in patients with acute appendicitis, assessing outcomes, benefits and impact on quality of life. Conclusion: Therefore, although surgery remains the preferred choice in complicated cases, antibiotic therapy may be a viable option in selected cases, if patients are informed about the risk of recurrence.