STUDY: Surgery Not Always Necessary For Appendicitis. “The results favored initial treatment with antibiotics rather than immediate operation. The interpretation of those results was complicated slightly by the fact that if people with appendicitis did not improve within two days of antibiotic treatment, they went on to surgery regardless; nevertheless, at least two thirds of people with appendicitis were cured by antibiotics alone. Overall, they had a lower rate of complications than those who were operated upon straight away on diagnosis.”