Antibiotics are now an accepted option for initial treatment of appendicitis in many cases, providing patients with an alternative to surgery.

"I think it's ethical, and it's really critical to give patients the information they need, because they're the experts in their care and they're the experts in making decisions that's best for them in that moment," says Dr. Giana Davidson, an associate professor of surgery at the UW School of Medicine. She directed the clinical coordinating center for the Comparing Outcomes of antibiotic Drugs and Appendectomy (CODA) trial.

Read our news release about the CODA study findings and how a new online decision-making tool can help patients.