Design and study population
A retrospective cross-sectional study was carried out, scanning the hospital records of pregnant women who attended prenatal follow-up and delivered from October 1, 2015, to October 1, 2020. Ethical approval for the study was granted by the Local Institutional Review Board with the decision no: 2020/9-98.
Women aged 18–45 years submitted to appendectomy for AA during pregnancy or within the first six weeks after delivery were included. Cases with missing data were excluded. Analyzed parameters were demographic data, prenatal follow-up, birth results (live birth/stillbirth), a gestational week at birth, delivery type, birth weight of babies, postpartum records (post-partum course, early and late complications), the timing of appendectomy (prenatal vs. postpartum), operation notes (description of the intervention and intra- and post-operative complications), and pathology reports. The following parameters in women who had an appendectomy during pregnancy and puerperium within six postpartum weeks were compared by age, a gestational week at birth, birth weight, and the delivery types. Also, pregnancy complications that could have been associated with appendectomy (abortion, preterm birth, stillbirth, etc.) were recorded. The only indication of an urgent Cesarean section (CS) in such patients is an infectious condition. Pregnant with fever which is at risk for severe complications, and she needs to be urgently treated (also with urgent CS). In that case, CS was performed due to fetal distress without uterine contractions and any other potential cause was found. Authors excluded other non-medical indications for CS, as CS on patient’s request and medical indications as dystocia or previous CS.