A shortened course of Amoxicillin/Clavulanate is the preferred antibiotic treatment after surgery for perforated appendicitis in children

Despite evidence supporting short course outpatient antibiotic treatment following appendectomy for perforated appendicitis, evidence of real-world implementation and consensus for antibiotic choice is lacking. We therefore aimed to compare outpatient antibiotic treatment regimens in a national cohort. We identified children who underwent surgery for perforated appendicitis between 2010 and 2018 using the PearlDiver database and compared 45-day disease-specific readmission between children who received shortened (5–8 days) versus prolonged (10–14 day) total antibiotic courses (inpatient intravenous and/or oral) completed with outpatient Amoxicillin/Clavulanate versus Ciprofloxacin/Metronidazole, and compared antibiotic type (5–14 days) to each other. 4916 children were identified, 2001 (90.0%) treated with Amoxicillin/Clavulanate (5–14 days), 381 (19.0%) with shortened (5–8 days), 1464 (73.2%) with prolonged (10–14 days) courses. 222 (10.0%) were treated with Ciprofloxacin/Metronidazole, 44 (19.8%) with shortened, 174 (78.4%) with prolonged courses. Freedom from readmission was not different between prolonged and shortened course whether they received Amoxicillin/Clavulanate (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR] 1.54, 95%CI 0.95–2.5) or Ciprofloxacin/Metronidazole (AHR 3.49, 95%CI 0.45–27.3). Antibiotic type did not affect readmission rate (Amoxicillin/Clavulanate versus Ciprofloxacin/Metronidazole, AHR 1.21, 95%CI 0.71–2.05). Prolonged antibiotic regimens are routinely prescribed despite evidence suggesting shorter courses and antibiotic choice are not associated with greater treatment failure. As it is better tolerated, we recommend a shortened course of Amoxicillin/Clavulanate for oral management of perforated appendicitis. Retrospective. Level III.