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.