2016 Volume 36 Issue 4 Pages 693-697
It is sometimes difficult to diagnose acute appendicitis during pregnancy；moreover, appropriate treatment is required because premature delivery can occur due to the intraperitoneal contagion. Among the 25 pregnant women with appendicitis that we encountered during the 17-year period from 1998-2014, conservative treatment was undertaken in 9；of these, 2 who failed to respond to the conservative treatment required surgery appendectomy. In one of the patients, the baby was born prematurely. Appendectomy was conducted following the caesarean section in 2 of the 18 cases that underwent surgery. When the data were compared with those of the 184 cases of appendicitis not associated with pregnancy that received inpatient hospital care at our institute, no significant difference was observed in the number of days from symptom appearance to visiting the hospital, white blood cell count, serum CRP, body temperature, pulse, or the duration of treatment with antibiotics；on the other hand, the number of hospital days being significantly longer in the pregnant women with appendicitis. Delayed diagnosis/treatment of appendicitis during pregnancy is associated with a high risk of premature delivery, etc., and attention is required to determine the optimal methods for early diagnosis and prompt and appropriate treatment.
