Objective To study the effect of endoscopic treatment for acute appendicitis (AA)without perforation or gangrene.Methods A total of 94 patients with AA were randomly divided into operation group (n =45 ) to receive appendectomy,control group (n =15 ) to accept conventional medicine of metronidazole and Cefoxitin and colonoscopy group (n =34) to undergo conventional medicine plus endoscopic treatment.The time for alleviation of abdominal pain,duration and mean cost of the hospitalization,and the recurrence rate in one year were compared.Results Compared to operation group,colonoscopy group was superior in the duration [ (2.77 ± 0.27) d vs.(6.65 ± 1.68) d ] and mean cost of hospitalization [ ( 1011.35 ± 22.12) yuan vs.(4023.37 ± 32.02 ) yuan ] ( P ＜ 0.05 and P ＜ 0.01,respectively).There were no significant differences in the time for alleviation of abdominal pain or the recurrence rate in one year between 2 groups.Colonoscopy group was superior to control group in all the indices (P ＜ 0.05 ).Conclusion Endoscopic treatment for AA without perforation and gangrene is effective and safe,which can be considered as the first-line treatment.