title: The diagnosis of acute appendicitis in pregnant versus non-pregnant women: A comparative study.
abstract: To investigate whether the diagnosis of acute appendicitis is affected by pregnancy or not.
  A retrospective study with the analysis of the medical records of all women suspected of having appendicitis who underwent appendectomy at our hospital between June 2010 and March 2015 were reviewed. The patients were divided into two groups according to whether they were pregnant or not during the surgery: group I, pregnant women, and group II, non-pregnant women.
  During the study period, 38 pregnant women and 169 non-pregnant women underwent appendectomy. The time from admission to the operation was not statistically different (2.17±1.47 days in group I vs. 1.98±1.66 day in group II; p=0.288). The pregnant group had longer hospital stay than the non-pregnant group (p=0.04). Ultrasonography (USG) was used as the first diagnostic modality in 36/38 patients in group I and 161/169 in group II. The non-visualized appendix on ultrasound was seen in 17 patients in group I and 51 patients in group II, which was not statistically different. Sensitivity and specificity of USG in diagnosis of acute appendicitis were 61.29 and 80.00% in group I, and 93.0 and 31.6% in group II, respectively.
  Although the diagnosis of appendicitis in pregnant women is not delayed, careful assessment of these patients suspected of having appendicitis should be encouraged when USG examination is normal or nondiagnostic.
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of General Surgery, School of Medicine, Yüzüncü Yıl University, Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Abbas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aras
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, Yüzüncü Yıl University, Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Erbil
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Karaman
authors.affiliation: Research Assistant, Department of General Surgery, School of Medicine, Yüzüncü Yıl University, Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Çağhan
authors.initials: Ç
authors.lastname: Pekşen
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of General Surgery, School of Medicine, Yüzüncü Yıl University, Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Remzi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kızıltan
authors.affiliation: Professor, Department of General Surgery, School of Medicine, Yüzüncü Yıl University, Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet Çetin
authors.initials: MÇ
authors.lastname: Kotan
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D001062:Appendectomy / Q000379:methods; D001064:Appendicitis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000379:methods; D055815:Young Adult