Surprise: People don’t have to have their appendix out nearly as much as they think, a new study claims.

Plain old antibiotics may be more than enough to deal with appendicitis instead of costly and sometimes risky surgery, and it may actually be more effective, according to an NBC News report.

The study, conducted by the Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio and published in the journal JAMA Surgery, found that when families chose an antibiotic regiment for kids who have simple appendicitis, they often recovered without ever needing surgery. In addition, the kids missed fewer days of school and, not surprisingly, it cost the parents a lot less money too.

Appendicitis happens when the appendix becomes inflamed due to an infection, trauma, or some other cause. It accounts for a whopping 11 percent of all pediatric emergency room visits. Doctors typically treat it by opting to simply remove the appendix through an appendectomy, but as with all surgeries, there is risks of complications and it can take a while to heal fully, disrupting the life of the family.

Now, the new research indicates that it all may be unnecessary, and intense regiments of antibiotics will work just fine based on a randomized trial of people who had appendicitis. A total of 629 patients were screen between ages seven and 17 between October 2012 and March 2013.

Twenty-two percent of them who didn’t have severe or complex cases were studied, with 102 ending up enrolling in the study. Thirty-seven of them chose antibiotics, with the rest choosing surgery.

Scientists checked in a year later and found that 76 percent of kids who got antibiotics were healthy. They also needed 13 fewer days of rests and the medical bills were $800 lower.

The conclusion of the study was that antibiotics was a reasonable alternative to surgery in many cases.