[Acute appendicitis and pregnancy; experience at Hospital Espanõl of Mexico]

Acute appendicitis the most common surgical complication during pregnancy. The diagnosis is difficult and requires an urgent surgical treatment. The basic objective of this article was to determine the clinic profile of this association. We review the cases with acute appendicitis and pregnancy presented since January 1990 to December 1996 in our hospital. We found 17 cases, with an average age of 28.6 years. Of this 17 cases 12 were truly appendicitis. The time between the onset of the first symptom to the laparotomy was of 43.25 hours. The natural history of the appendicitis is not modified by the presence of a pregnancy. Abdominal pain remains as the clue symptom and was present in 100% of the patients. Finally an early diagnosis and treatment allows a reduction in the maternal fetal mortality.