Acute appendicitis in women of childbearing age
K. B. Nakhgevany and L. E. Clarke
To find a way to decrease the incidence of laparotomies negative for
appendicitis, we studied 108 female patients between the ages of 15 and 45
years who had undergone appendectomy with the diagnosis of acute
appendicitis. Of these 108 patients, 56 had acute appendicitis and 52 had
normal appendixes. The patients between the ages of 15 and 25 years had a
59% incidence of negative laparotomies, in comparison with those patients
between 36 and 45 years old, who had an incidence of 22%. In patients with
normal appendixes, 18 had no intra-abdominal pathologic findings. Twenty
had pelvic inflammatory disease, and nine had ovarian abnormalities. There
were no differences in the clinical symptoms, vital signs, roentgenographic
findings, or other laboratory studies between the two groups. There were no
in-hospital perforated appendixes in the patients who were operated on
within 48 hours of admission. To decrease the incidence of negative
appendectomies, we recommend in-house observation and simultaneous
examination of the patient by the surgeon and a gynecologist.
