Researchers find having appendix removed not a threat to fertility

Research: Scientists found no threat to fertility from having appendix removed.© STV

Researchers at Dundee University have found that having the appendix removed does not affect a woman's chance of having a baby.

The researchers found that women who had their appendix removed were actually more likely to get pregnant later on than women who had not had the common surgery.

Surgery and is usually done to treat appendicitis, a potentially life-threatening inflammation of the appendix.

Appendicitis, ruptured appendixes and severe pelvic infections after appendectomies were thought to increase the risk of infertility. Some reports have also suggested that the surgical trauma of appendectomy itself might hurt a woman's fertility, possibly because it could leave scar tissue sticking to the fallopian tubes and obstruct an egg on its way to the uterus.

However Mr Sami Shimi, a surgeon at Dundee University, who worked on the new study said reports did not support this.

Mr Shimi and his colleagues found that out of more than 76,000 women who had undergone an appendectomy, 39% had a first pregnancy in the decade following the procedure.

The rate for twice as many women who had not had the surgery was only 28%. Although the follow-up time was slightly shorter for this group, the fertility gap remained after accounting for age, birth control use, number of previous hospitalisations and other factors.

Mr Shimi said the results now required further research to determine whether there is something unique about women who present with pain and require appendectomies.

But he said that the results to do show that women who need an appendectomy should not worry about fertility problems. Fears about infertility after appendicectomy are unfounded.

He said: "A lot of patients think they may become infertile after appendicectomy but when I looked at the reports supporting this, they were really weak.

"Conversely, we are not saying that women should have an appendicectomy to increase their chances of fertility."

The results of the study were published in the journal of Fertility and Sterility.

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