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Appendicitis – What is Appendicitis In Pregnancy? | Appendicitis During Pregnancy

Appendicitis is the most common nonobstetric surgical disease of the abdomen during pregnancy. Pregnant women develop appendicitis with the same frequency as do nonpregnant women of the same age, and the cases are equally distributed through the three trimesters of pregnancy. By far the most common presentation is right lower quadrant pain and tenderness the classic syndrome but the enlarged uterus occasionally will have pushed the appendix into the right upper quadrant, which gives rise to pain in this location. Fever is less common than with appendicitis in the absence of pregnancy.

When a woman is pregnant the last thing she expects is to have appendicitis but it does happen. My daughter had to have her appendix removed when she was 4 1/2 months pregnant. The doctors informed us that there was a 50/50 chance of survival rate for the fetus. But her appendix had to be removed and there was no other choice. Thankfully, all went well and the fetus survived the appendectomy. Symptoms of appendicitis can easily be misinterpreted during pregnancy so it is important to recognize the signs in order to get proper diagnosis and treatment.

A high index of suspicion, prompt diagnosis and surgical removal of the appendix even despite pregnancy is the appropriate management of appendicitis in the pregnant.Undiagnosed appendicitis in pregnancy is a potentially fatal surgical emergency. Up to 4 in 100 women with ruptured appendicitis in pregnancy will die, and 1 in 3 babies may be lost due to delay in diagnosis and treatment of appendicitis during pregnancy.After the 6th month of pregnancy, appendicitis during pregnancy could lead to premature labour in up to 1 in every 2 women with this condition.

There is a slightly higher rate of appendicitis in the second trimester than in the first and third trimesters or postpartum. An infected appendix appears to be more likely to rupture during pregnancy, especially in the third trimester, possibly because of delay in diagnosis and intervention.Right lower quadrant pain is the most common symptom of appendicitis and should alert the physician caring for the pregnant patient to strongly consider this diagnosis. Although the location of the appendix migrates a few centimeters cephalad with the enlarging uterus the most common symptom of appendicitis, ie, right lower quadrant pain, occurs close to McBurney’s point in the vast majority of pregnant women, regardless of the stage of pregnancy