BACKGROUND: Tuboovarian abscess is an unusual obstetric complication that causes maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. CASE: A woman, G1, P0, with a 32-week pregnancy presented with abdominal pain. Physical examination on admission revealed fever and unremarkable abdominal signs. Eleven hours after admission, signs of peritonitis became prominent, necessitating emergency laparotomy. Surgical findings included an 8-cm, right, ruptured tuboovarian abscess with massive purulent contamination of the abdominal cavity. Cesarean hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy was performed. Neither the newborn nor the mother had postoperative complications. CONCLUSION: Since there are discrepancies in the incidences of tuboovarian abscess in pregnant and non pregnant groups, the pathogenesis of tuboovarian abscess may be different in the two populations. In pregnancy, diagnosis and management are also more difficult than in the nonpregnant state. Clinical data may not reveal the diagnosis until surgery is mandatory. Because most pregnant women with tuboovarian abscesses are young, conservative surgery should be attempted if the pathology is limited to only one side of the adnexa and further reproduction is desired.
