Acute Appendicitis - Appendectomy or the "Antibiotics First" Strategy

A 56-year-old man presents with a 2-day history of abdominal pain. The pain began centrally but has moved to the right lower quadrant of his abdomen in the past 6 hours. He has a body-mass index (the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters) of 33, a body temperature of 100 degrees F (37.8 degrees C), and a white-cell count of 11,500 per cubic millimeter. The right side of his lower abdomen is tender to palpation. A computed tomographic (CT) scan was ordered by his primary care physician after he was examined in the clinic, and the results are consistent with appendicitis. He has had three prior surgical procedures: an open Nissen fundoplication complicated by a pulmonary embolism and two incisional hernia repairs with mesh. After receiving the results of his CT scan, he found information online about doctors in Europe who are using antibiotics alone to treat appendicitis, and he asks specifically about that option. How would you manage this case?