Table 1.

Standard care and additional to standard care procedures

Procedure	Timing	Dose, frequency and/or duration
Standard care
Appendicectomy laparoscopic or open	During admission	Once only
Preoperative antibiotic	During admission	Once only
Postoperative antibiotic	During admission and/or after discharge	As clinically indicated
Follow-up visit	4 to 6 weeks after discharge	Once only
Additional to standard care
Intravenous piperacillin with tazobactam	During admission	100 mg/kg/dose every 8 hours for at least 24 hours up to 48 hours
Appendicectomy laparoscopic or open	During admission when patient failed to respond to antibiotic therapy	None, or once only
Oral amoxicillin plus clavulanic acid	On discharge	22.5 mg/kg/dose twice per day to complete a total 7-day course of antibiotics
Oral ciprofloxacin and metronidazole	On discharge for patient allergic to augmentin	15 mg/kg/dose two times per day, and 10 mg/kg/dose two times per day, respectively, to complete a total 7-day course of antibiotics
Telephone interview	1, 2 weeks, 3, 6 and 12 months after discharge	5–10 min each interview. 5 times in total