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Acute Appendicitis and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes: A Nationwide Population-Based Study

  • Original Article
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Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery Aims and scope

Abstract

Background/objective

Acute appendicitis is the most common non-obstetric surgical procedure in pregnant women. Using two large-scale nationwide population-based datasets, this study aimed to assess the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes between mothers with and without appendicitis in Taiwan.

Methods

This study used two nationwide population-based datasets: the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Dataset and the Taiwan national birth certificate registry. This study included 908 women who had live singleton births and who had been hospitalized with a diagnosis of acute appendicitis, and another randomly selected 4,540 women as a comparison group. Conditional logistic regression analyses were performed to calculate the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes including low birth weight (LBW), preterm birth, small for gestational age (SGA), cesarean section (CS), congenital anomalies, Apgar scores at 5 min (<7), and pre-eclampsia/eclampsia.

Results

The adjusted odds ratios for LBW, preterm birth, SGA, CS, and congenital anomalies in women with acute appendicitis were 1.82 (95 % CI = 1.43–2.30), 1.59 (95 % CI = 1.25–2.02), 1.33 (95 % CI = 1.12–1.60), 1.24 (95 % CI = 1.07–1.44), and 2.07 (95 % CI = 1.07–4.03), respectively, compared with women without acute appendicitis after adjusting for highest maternal educational level, marital status, geographic region, gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, coronary heart disease, anemia, hyperlipidemia, obesity, and alcohol abuse/alcohol dependence syndrome, infant sex and parity, and paternal age.

Conclusions

There were increased risks for having LBW, preterm infants, SGA, congenital anomalies, and for experiencing CS among women with acute appendicitis than comparison women.

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Acknowledgements

This study is based in part on data from the National Health Insurance Research Database provided by the Bureau of National Health Insurance, Department of Health, Taiwan and managed by the National Health Research Institutes. The interpretations and conclusions contained herein do not represent those of the Bureau of National Health Insurance, Department of Health, or the National Health Research Institutes.

Conflict of interest

There are no conflicts of interest to declare.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

    Po-Li Wei, Joseph J. Keller & Hung-Hua Liang

  2. Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Po-Li Wei & Hung-Hua Liang

  3. School of Medical Laboratory Sciences and Biotechnology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Joseph J. Keller

  4. School of Health Care Administration, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wu-Hsing St., Taipei, 110, Taiwan

    Herng-Ching Lin

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  1. Po-Li Wei
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Correspondence to Herng-Ching Lin.

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Wei, PL., Keller, J.J., Liang, HH. et al. Acute Appendicitis and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes: A Nationwide Population-Based Study. J Gastrointest Surg 16, 1204–1211 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11605-012-1858-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11605-012-1858-x

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