New study has uncovered a surprising association, finding that the surgical removal of the appendix or tonsils in younger age may increase a woman's chance of pregnancy.
Study co-author Sami Shimi, clinical senior lecturer in the School of Medicine at the University of Dundee, United Kingdom, and colleagues say their findings - published in Fertility and Sterility - should ease concerns that such procedures may reduce a woman's fertility.
The surgical removal of the tonsils, known as a tonsillectomy, is normally carried out as a result of frequent infection or inflammation of the tonsils (tonsillitis) or sleep-disordered breathing.
Surgical removal of the appendix, called an appendectomy, is normally the first-line treatment when the organ becomes infected or swollen - a condition known as appendicitis.
Women who underwent a tonsillectomy or appendectomy when younger were found to have higher pregnancy rates in a new study. |