Elective appendectomy with abdominal and pelvic surgery.

A series is presented of 830 patients in whom elective appendectomy was performed at the time of laparotomy for other intraabdominal disease. Special emphasis is given to 490 such procedures among 1042 patients with abdominal hysterectomy, an incidence of 47%. This increases to 57% by exclusion of patients with previous appendectomy. The contraindications to elective appendectomy are discussed, as well as its morbidity, mortality, and complications. The author concludes that an elective appendectomy should be performed with abdominal and pelvic surgery whenever the opportunity is presented, provided that the procedure is not prohibited by the contraindications discussed.