SynthesisAnnals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England2019
Is the laparoscopic approach a safe choice for the management of acute appendicitis in pregnant women? A meta-analysis of observational studies.
Synthesis in Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Swedish national guidelines for diagnosis and management of acute appendicitis in adults and children.BJS open · 2025Guideline
- Discordant outcomes of laparoscopic versus open appendectomy for suspected appendicitis during pregnancy in published meta-analyses: an overview of systematic reviews.Surgical endoscopy · 2020Pooled it
- Delayed Diagnosis of Acute Appendicitis in the Third Trimester of Pregnancy: Diagnostic Pitfalls, Multisurgical Management, and a Prolonged Postoperative Course-A Multidisciplinary Case Report.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Review
- Is Appendectomy During Late Stages of Pregnancy Associated with an Increased Cesarean Delivery Rate? - a Retrospective Analysis of One Center During 10 Years.Geburtshilfe und Frauenheilkunde · 2024Article
- Laparoscopic negative appendectomy during pregnancy is associated with adverse neonatal outcome.Surgical endoscopy · 2022Article
- Association of laparoscopy and laparotomy with adverse fetal outcomes: a retrospective population-based case-control study.Surgical endoscopy · 2021Article
- Safety of laparoscopic appendectomy for the management of acute appendicitis during pregnancy.Journal of minimally invasive surgery · 2021Article
- Safety of appendectomy during pregnancy in the totally laparoscopic age.Journal of minimally invasive surgery · 2021Article
- Article
- Analysis of 190 Female Patients after Appendectomy.Obstetrics and gynecology international · 2021Article
- Acute Appendicitis in Pregnancy: How to Manage?Sisli Etfal Hastanesi tip bulteni · 2020Article
- Appendectomy in Third Trimester of Pregnancy and Birth Outcomes: A Propensity Score Analysis of a 6-Year Cohort Study Using Administrative Claims Data.World journal of surgery · 2020Article
- Non-obstetric surgery during pregnancy - an eleven-year retrospective analysis.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2019Article
- Review
- Pregnant patients requiring emergency general surgery: a scoping review of diagnostic and management strategies.Canadian journal of surgery. Journal canadien de chirurgieArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionAcute appendicitis is a common and serious situation during pregnancy, because of the increased risk of fetal loss and perforation in the third trimester, as well as a diagnostic difficulty. During recent years laparoscopic approach has been introduced to clinical practice with encouraging results. The purpose of this meta-analysis is to compare the surgical and obstetrical outcomes between laparoscopic and open appendectomy during pregnancy. MATERIALS AND
methodsMEDLINE, SCOPUS, Clinicaltrials.gov, CENTRAL and Google Scholar were searched for studies reporting on postoperative outcomes between laparoscopic and open appendectomy during pregnancy. The random effects model (DerSimonian-Laird) was used to calculate pooled effect estimates when high heterogeneity was encountered, otherwise the fixed-effects (Mantel-Haenszel) model was implemented.
resultsTwenty-one studies that enrolled 6276 pregnant women are included in the present meta-analysis. Of these women, 1963 underwent laparoscopic appendectomy and 4313 underwent an open appendectomy. Women who underwent laparoscopic appendectomy demonstrated an increase in fetal loss risk, while neonates of women that underwent open appendectomy presented decreased Apgar score at five minutes after birth. All the rest outcomes were similar between the two groups. The time that each study took place seemed to affect the comparison of birth weight and postoperative hospital stay between the two groups.
conclusionLaparoscopic appendectomy seems to be a relatively safe therapeutic option in pregnancy when it is indicated. Thus, it should be implemented in clinical practice, always considering the experience of the surgeon in such procedures. Nevertheless, the need of new studies to enhance this statement remains crucial.
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