Diagnosis of Acute Appendicitis During Pregnancy

Background: Acute appendicitis is the mostcommon surgical problem in pregnancy after obstetric reasons. Pregnant patients operated with diagnosis of acute appendicitis were reviewed retrospectively in this study. Patients and Methods: 24 pregnant patients operated with diagnosis of acute appendicitis in Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital between January and December 2003 were included in this study. Results: 19 out of 24 patients (%79.2) were pathologically diagnosed as acute appendicitis. Out of other 5 patients, 2 patients had ovarian cystrupture, 1 had ovarian cyst torsion and 2 had negative laparatomies. Distribution of patients was 2, 16 and 6 patients respectively, for 1st, 2nd and 3rd trimester. 2 patients had pretermlabour and 1 fetus resulted with exitus. Preoperative ultrasonography showed similarity to peroperative findings in 12 of 24 patients. Discussion: Diagnosis of acute appendicitis in pregnancy is quite difficult and physical examination and patient history are still most important diagnostic tools. Perforation risk in pregnant patients higher than normal population.