Effect of Oral Moxifloxacin vs Intravenous Ertapenem Plus Oral Levofloxacin for Treatment of Uncomplicated Acute Appendicitis: The APPAC II Randomized Clinical Trial
Suvi Sippola, Jussi Haijanen, Juha Grönroos, Tero Rautio, Pia Nordström, Tuomo Rantanen, Tarja Pinta, Imre Ilves, Anne Mattila, Jukka Rintala, Eliisa Löyttyniemi, Saija Hurme, Ville Tammilehto, Harri Marttila, Sanna Meriläinen, Johanna Laukkarinen, Eeva-Liisa Sävelä, Heini Savolainen, Tomi Sippola, Markku Aarnio, Hannu Paajanen, Paulina Salminen, Suvi Sippola, Jussi Haijanen, Juha Grönroos, Tero Rautio, Pia Nordström, Tuomo Rantanen, Tarja Pinta, Imre Ilves, Anne Mattila, Jukka Rintala, Eliisa Löyttyniemi, Saija Hurme, Ville Tammilehto, Harri Marttila, Sanna Meriläinen, Johanna Laukkarinen, Eeva-Liisa Sävelä, Heini Savolainen, Tomi Sippola, Markku Aarnio, Hannu Paajanen, Paulina Salminen
Abstract
Importance: Antibiotics are an effective and safe alternative to appendectomy for managing uncomplicated acute appendicitis, but the optimal antibiotic regimen is not known.
Objective: To compare oral antibiotics with combined intravenous followed by oral antibiotics in the management of computed tomography-confirmed uncomplicated acute appendicitis.
Design, setting, and participants: The Appendicitis Acuta (APPAC) II multicenter, open-label, noninferiority randomized clinical trial was conducted from April 2017 until November 2018 in 9 Finnish hospitals. A total of 599 patients aged 18 to 60 years with computed tomography-confirmed uncomplicated acute appendicitis were enrolled in the trial. The last date of follow-up was November 29, 2019.
Interventions: Patients randomized to receive oral monotherapy (n = 295) received oral moxifloxacin (400 mg/d) for 7 days. Patients randomized to receive intravenous antibiotics followed by oral antibiotics (n = 288) received intravenous ertapenem (1 g/d) for 2 days followed by oral levofloxacin (500 mg/d) and metronidazole (500 mg 3 times/d) for 5 days.
Main outcomes and measures: The primary end point was treatment success (≥65%) for both groups, defined as discharge from hospital without surgery and no recurrent appendicitis during 1-year follow-up, and to determine whether oral antibiotics alone were noninferior to intravenous and oral antibiotics, with a margin of 6% for difference.
Results: Among 599 patients who were randomized (mean [SD] age, 36 [12] years; 263 [44%] women), 581 (99.7%) were available for the 1-year follow-up. The treatment success rate at 1 year was 70.2% (1-sided 95% CI, 65.8% to ∞) for patients treated with oral antibiotics and 73.8% (1-sided 95% CI, 69.5% to ∞) for patients treated with intravenous followed by oral antibiotics. The difference was -3.6% ([1-sided 95% CI, -9.7% to ∞]; P = .26 for noninferiority), with the confidence limit exceeding the noninferiority margin.
Conclusion and relevance: Among adults with uncomplicated acute appendicitis, treatment with 7 days of oral moxifloxacin compared with 2 days of intravenous ertapenem followed by 5 days of levofloxacin and metronidazole resulted in treatment success rates greater than 65% in both groups, but failed to demonstrate noninferiority for treatment success of oral antibiotics compared with intravenous followed by oral antibiotics.
Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03236961; EudraCT Identifier: 2015-003633-10.
Conflict of interest statement
Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr S. Sippola reported receiving grants from the Orion Research Foundation and the Gastroenterological Research Foundation and a government research grant awarded to Turku University Hospital during the conduct of the study and grants from the Mary and Georg C. Ehrnrooth Foundation and the Finnish Medical Foundation outside the submitted work. Dr Haijanen reported receiving grants from the Orion Research Foundation, a government research grant awarded to Turku University Hospital, and grants from the Gastroenterological Research Foundation during the conduct of the study. Dr Marttila reported receiving European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases participation fees from Pfizer and personal fees from Merck Sharp and Dohme and Roche Diagnostics outside the submitted work. Dr Salminen reported receiving grants from Mary and Georg C. Ehrnrooth foundation, the Sigrid Juselius foundation, Finnish Academy, and a government research grant (EVO Foundation) during the conduct of the study and personal fees from Merck and Orion Pharma outside the submitted work. No other disclosures were reported.
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Source: PubMed