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Appendicitis Complicating Pregnancy

From the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, Texas

Abstract

Thirty-four pregnant women with acute appendicitis presented at Parkland Memorial Hospital during a 15-year period. Abdominal pain, usually accompanied by nausea with or without vomiting, was the most common presenting symptom. Anorexia was less constant, and its occurrence decreased with advancing gestation. Physical findings usually included direct abdominal tenderness and, less often, rebound tenderness. Leukocytosis and/or a "left shift" were common laboratory findings, and the urinalysis was normal in most cases. Diagnosis was increasingly difficult as gestation progressed. This was reflected both by the increasing severity of the disease process found at surgery and by increasing fetal loss. If the diagnosis of appendicitis is suspected in the gravid patient, immediate surgical intervention is indicated to prevent the catastrophic complications associated with procrastination in diagnosis and treatment.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. P. Cobben, I. Groot, L. Haans, J. G. Blickman, and J. Puylaert MRI for Clinically Suspected Appendicitis During Pregnancy Am. J. Roentgenol., September 1, 2004; 183(3): 671 - 675. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]