Children with simple cases of appendicitis may be safely treated with antibiotics instead of surgery, suggests a new study, Fox News reported.

Appendicitis is when the appendix, a small tube-shaped extension of the colon, becomes inflamed and filled with puss. The appendix may burst without treatment and cause a widespread infection.

Although the cause of appendicitis is not known, Dr. Peter Minneci from Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, said it may often occur when a piece of feces blocks the appendix and allows bacteria to proliferate.

Doctors began noticing that some of the children were feeling better in the morning after the initial treatment of antibiotics.

To see whether antibiotics alone might be enough to treat appendicitis, he and his colleagues enrolled 77 children and teens brought to the emergency room at Nationwide Children's Hospital from October 2012 to October 2013.

All the participants had been diagnosed with uncomplicated acute appendicitis. 

The participants and their families were allowed to choose between surgery or receiving 24 hours of intravenous antibiotics in the hospital followed by 10 days of antibiotics in pill form after they went home.

Of the 77 participants, 30 chose antibiotics and 47 picked surgery.

Of those who chose the antibiotic option, 93 percent were feeling better within a day. They also tended to recover faster.

Three patients in the antibiotic group did require surgery to remove their appendix within the 30 days following their first ER visit. None of their appendixes burst, however.

Both children and parents rated their quality of life higher in the antibiotics-only group, compared to those who had surgery. But on average, the length of hospital stay was longer at 38 hours for the antibiotics group, compared with 20 hours in the surgery group.