Minimally invasive surgery for a burst appendix is more successful and less costly in the long run than traditional open appendectomy, according to a new study in the Annals of Surgery.

Researchers found that laparoscopic appendectomy is superior or comparable to open appendectomy in terms of several surgical outcome measures for both uncomplicated and complicated appendicitis. They also found that laparoscopy could save thousands of dollars for some patients, when all costs - including doctors' fees, hospital fees and readmissions - are considered.

Appendectomy is one of the most common surgeries in the U.S., with some 750,000 procedures done every year. Researchers looked back at some 40,000 such surgeries performed at dozens of U.S. academic medical centers - about 14,000 open procedures and 26,000 laparoscopic ones.

For uncomplicated cases of appendicitis, in which the appendix is still intact, the cost for the 2 types of surgery came out about the same, at slightly more than $7,800. When the appendix had burst, however, the open surgery was considerably more expensive. On average, it cost $17,594, compared to $12,125 for the laparoscopic surgery.

Patients who had the laparoscopic procedures also had lower death rates, at 0.07% versus 0.17%, fewer readmissions and a slightly shorter stay at the hospital.

Dan O'Connor