[Acute abdomen in gynecology].

The aim of the present study is, to describe the morbidity and mortality of 196 patients with an acute abdominal condition who underwent surgery at the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics of the TU Munich between 1982 and 1986. This is a percentage of 2.7 of all 7,167 operations carried out during this period. 118 of these patients had an extrauterine pregnancy and were therefore excluded from the study. The second group of 79 patients, mostly with inflammatory diseases, were analyzed. In most of these cases the acute abdominal condition was caused by a tuboovarian abscess (48.1%), followed by peritonitis because of a bowel-disease (11.4%). 6 patients suffered from an abscessing endometritis due to a caesarean section with sepsis in 5 cases. A generalized peritonitis occurred in 5 cases and was treated with a planned relaparatomy with lavage. 63% of the patients had no complications within 28 days after operation, 13% developed a subileus; in 7% a relaparatomy was necessary. 6% of the patients had problems of wound-healing. One patient with stomach-cancer died 3 weeks after the operation because of a fulminant lung-embolism. Thus the mortality rate was 1.5%. A further 27% were treated at the intensive care-unit and 18% needed artificial respiration. The average postoperative period of hospitalisation was 15 days. In comparison, patients with elective operations remained 13 days. The morbidity and mortality of patients due to surgery of an acute abdominal condition was relatively small; postoperative complications could be well treated in all cases and is probably the result of a positive and early indication for surgical intervention.