The Comparison of Outcomes of Antibiotic Drugs and Appendectomy (CODA) Trial
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2021-09-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
For the past 130 years, appendectomy has been the standard treatment for appendicitis. Recent
studies from Europe have challenged the notion that surgery is the best option, showing that
antibiotics alone can treat appendicitis without a need for appendectomy in as many as 3 out
of 4 patients and without safety issues for up to one year of follow up. Despite these
results, it remains to be determined if the antibiotic strategy is as good as an appendectomy
for the outcomes that most patients care about. The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research
Institute (PCORI)-funded Comparison of Outcomes of Drugs and Appendectomy (CODA) trial will
be the first American, and largest-ever randomized trial of the issue and its results should
help surgeons and patients make more informed healthcare decisions.