Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
SYLWAN, cilt.158, sa.7, ss.16-35, 2014 (SCI-Expanded)
Objective: Acute appendicitis is the most common acute abdomen situation during pregnancy. Pregnancy alters clinical, laboratory and examination findings in acute appendicitis and threatens both mother and fetus’s life due to lags in diagnosis and treatment. We have retrospectively evaluated our surgical experiences in diagnosis of appendicitis in pregnancy.
Methods: The medical chart of 22 pregnant female patients operated on the diagnosis of acute appendicitis in Adiyaman University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Surgery between October 2009 and October 2013 have been evaluated retrospectively. Patients’ ages, pregnancy weeks, complaints, physical examination findings, leukocyte and biochemistry values, urine microscopy studies, abdominal USG findings, pathology results, postoperative complications and hospital lengths of stay were examined.
Results: The patients’ age range was 19-37 (28±6.3). Three (13.6%) of the patients were in the first trimester, while 13(59.1%) were in the second and 6(27.3%) in the third. The most common complaints of the patients were abdominal pain and nausea, while the most common physical examination finding was abdominal tenderness. Mean leukocyte count of the patients was 15.180/mm³(11.500-19.500). The time interval from the beginning of complaints to the operation was 27.3(10-72) hours, while the mean length of hospital stay was 3.3(2-7) days.
Conclusions: Multidisciplinary approach is mandatory and early diagnosis and operation should be planned in suspicion of acute appendicitis with selective tocolytic treatment approach.