[Antibiotic treatment of perforated appendicitis in childhood--a prospective study].

A prospective randomised study (I) was carried out on 130 children undergoing laparotomy for perforated appendicitis. The present study evaluates the therapeutic effectiveness of different antibiotic regimens in modifying the rate of post-operative complications (intraabdominal abscess, ileus, wound infiltration or abscess). During the first year of this study two treatment groups were used. Group A consisted of 29 children treated with Sulfometrol/Trimethoprim; the rate of postoperative complications was 44.8%. Group B consisted of 36 children treated with mezlocillin, the rate of complications being 13.8%. However, the same treatment with mezlocillin during the second year of the prospective study showed an increase of this rte to 39% (28 children--group C). The final group of 37 children was treated during the second year with mezlocillin and metronidazole (group D). The postoperative rate of complications was 10.8%. A retrospective analysis of further 80 children (study II) with perforated appendicitis treated with mezlocillin and metronidazole showed a consistent low rate of postoperative complications at 10.2%. In 6.8% of children studied, an operative intervention was necessary (four cases of ileus, four wound abscesses). The mean postoperative hospitalisation period decreased from 22.7 days in group A to 15.2 days in group D and finally to 14 days in study II. The present study shows that an effective and persistent attenuation of the rate of postoperative complications after perforated appendicitis in children depends on an early onset of therapy and on the appropriate choice of antibiotic drugs that are effective against aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms.