Surgical emergencies among gynecological surgeries in a tertiary care center: A descriptive cross-sectional study

Abstract

Introduction: The management of gynecological emergencies is essential for the preservation of the life of affected woman, her sexual functions and fertility particularly in disease conditions that threaten her life. The main objective of the study is to determine the proportion of the surgical emergencies among gynecological surgeries in a tertiary care center. Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in the department of gynecology and obstetrics in Shree Birendra Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal from April 2013 till March 2017. Ethical approval was taken from the Institutional Review Committee (IRC) in November 2019. This study was conducted among 515 gynecological surgeries by using convenience sampling methods. Point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and proportion for binary data. Data were analyzed using EXCEL software. Results: In our study, the proportion of surgical emergencies among total gynecological surgeries performed in the department of gynecology and obstetrics in Shree Birendra Hospital was 120 (23.30%). The highest number of surgical emergencies was observed in the age group of 20-29 years old, followed by less than 19 years of old age group. Ectopic pregnancy accounting for 85 (70.83%) is found to be the most common surgical emergencies in our study. Out of all surgical emergency cases, most of them underwent salpingectomy 65 (54.16%) followed by salpingectomy with tubal ligation 20 (16.16%). Conclusions: Surgical emergencies among gynecological surgeries are found to be in greater proportion in the department of gynecology and obstetrics in Shree Birendra Hospital. Ectopic pregnancy accounted for more than half of the diagnoses in this study.