GENERAL SURGICAL EMERGENCIES DURING PREGNANCY

Background: Pregnant patients are most important patients as their health can affect not only one life but two lives together. During pregnancy, 0.2% to 1.0% of women required general surgery for non-obstetric problems. The aims and objectives of this study were to study the common causes of acute abdomen in pregnancy and their management. Methods: Our study of 200 pregnant patients presenting with non-obstetric general surgical emergencies over a period of 5 years in a tertiary care hospital from the General surgical department of VSGH Hospital,Ahmedabad,India from year 2015 to 2019. Results: The mean age of the patients was 27 ± 3.5 years with most of them being in the age group of 26- 30 years. Most commonly affected in the second trimester. Acute appendicitis was the most common surgical emergency in our study group accounting for (44%) of all the emergencies, followed by acute acalculous cholecystitis(20%), acute pancreatitis(16%), cholelithiasis (12%), small bowel obstruction (4 %),trauma(4 %). Conclusion: Early detection and early management in pregnancy may resulted in better outcomes for mother as well as her children. Therefore, early diagnosis and oppropriate timely intervention would be sufficient to reduce overall implications in pregnant patients during general surgical emergencies.