In today's health matters, minimally invasive surgery for a burst appendix appears to be more successful and less costly in the long run than the traditional operation.

Results of a new study in the 'annals of surgery' suggest laparoscopy could save patients thousands of dollars.

Researchers looked at 40- thousand appendix surgeries. For uncomplicated appendicitis surgeries.. the cost came out to be about the same.

However when the appendix burst the conventional surgery ended up costing considerably more than the laparoscopic one.

Study authors note their findings had limitations. First it looked at only academic medical centers. And second, since it wasn't a randomized controlled trial, patients being compared could be different in important ways which could explain the surgery outcome.