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Previous Volume 315:1506-1508 December 11, 1986 Number 24 Next

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Abstract

We studied the importance of a history of appendectomy for appendicitis in 279 women with laparoscopically or surgically diagnosed tubal infertility and a control group of 957 fertile women. After controlling for the effects of age, use of an intrauterine device for contraception, a history of pelvic inflammatory disease, and other potential confounding variables, we found that no excess risk of tubal infertility was associated with a simple appendectomy without rupture. However, when the operation was reportedly for a ruptured appendix, the relative risk of tubal infertility was 4.8 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.5 to 14.9) for women who had never been pregnant and 3.2 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.1 to 9.6) for women with one or more previous pregnancies. We conclude that the early diagnosis and treatment of suspected appendicitis in girls and women of reproductive age may reduce the incidence of tubal infertility resulting from the sequelae of a ruptured appendix.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Pena, B. M. G., Taylor, G. A., Fishman, S. J., Mandl, K. D. (2002). Effect of an Imaging Protocol on Clinical Outcomes Among Pediatric Patients With Appendicitis. Pediatrics 110: 1088-1093 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Urbach, D. R., Marrett, L. D., Kung, R., Cohen, M. M. (2001). Association of Perforation of the Appendix with Female Tubal Infertility. Am J Epidemiol 153: 566-571 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Andersson, R., Lambe, M., Bergström, R. (1999). Fertility patterns after appendicectomy: historical cohort study. BMJ 318: 963-967 [Abstract] [Full Text]