Magnetic resonance imaging reduces the rate of unnecessary operations in pregnant patients with suspected acute appendicitis: a retrospective study.

Purpose: This is a retrospective single-institution study performed to compare the rate of unnecessary operations in pregnant women with suspected acute appendicitis with and without the use of MRI.

Methods: The study subjects were all pregnant women with suspected acute appendicitis admitted to a tertiary institution from January 2012 to December 2019. If acute appendicitis was not excluded clinically and by ultrasound (US), laparoscopies were performed until May 2017 (US-only group). MRI was added as a diagnostic tool when US was inconclusive from May 2017 (US + MRI group). Surgery was considered unnecessary when no inflamed appendix was found. The rate of unnecessary surgery, postoperative complications, length of stay were analyzed.

Results: Seventy-six women were included in the study; 38 women in the US-only group and 38 women in the US + MRI group. There were no differences in admission characteristics between the groups. One of 38 women (2.6%) underwent unnecessary surgery in the US + MRI group 10 of 38 (26.3%) in the US-only group (P = 0.007). The patients in the US + MRI group were significantly less likely to undergo a diagnostic operation than in the US-only group (5.26% 55.3%, respectively; P < 0.001) and their hospital stay was significantly shorter (0.74 ± 1.64 days 3.7 ± 3.0 days, respectively; P < 0.001). The obstetric outcomes were not different between the groups. MRI had a sensitivity of 83.3% and specificity of 100% in the series.

Conclusion: The rate of unnecessary surgery was significantly reduced in pregnant women, who underwent MRI after inconclusive transabdominal US.