The Treatment of Adolescent Pregnant and Adolescent Mothers Aged 13–18 Years With Non-Obstetric Surgery Indications: The opinions of Turkish surgeons | 2023, Volume 37 - Issue 1

Ahmet Atıcı¹, Mehmet Emin Çelikkay¹, Kenan Dolapçıoğlu², Mustafa Uğur³, Emre Dirican⁴, Sadık Görür⁵, Bülent Akçora¹

¹Mustafa Kemal University, Tayfur Ata Sökmen School of Medicine, Department of Pediatric Surgery, Antakya, Hatay-TÜRKİYE
²Mustafa Kemal University, Tayfur Ata Sökmen School of Medicine, Department of Gynaecology, Antakya, Hatay-TÜRKİYE
³Mustafa Kemal University, Tayfur Ata Sökmen School of Medicine, Department of General Surgery, Antakya, Hatay-TÜRKİYE
⁴Mustafa Kemal University, Tayfur Ata Sökmen School of Medicine, Department of Biostatistics, Antakya, Hatay-TÜRKİYE
⁵Mustafa Kemal University, Tayfur Ata Sökmen School of Medicine, Department of Urology, Antakya, Hatay-TÜRKİYE

Keywords: Adolescent pregnancy, Adolescent motherhood, Surgical management

Abstract

Introduction: Adolescent pregnancy (AP) is defined as pregnancy in girls between the ages of 13–19 while adolescent motherhood (AM) describes adolescents who become mothers during this period. The current study aimed to gather the opinions of surgeons working in Pediatric Surgery, General Surgery, Gynaecology, and Urology in Turkey on which departments and specialists should perform the surgical management of these patients.

Methods: A questionnaire designed to gather the opinions of Turkish surgeons working in Pediatric Surgery, General Surgery, Gynaecology, and Urology on the management of non-obstetric surgical diseases that occur in AP and AM was distributed using Google Forms.

Results: The questionnaires were answered by pediatric surgeons (n=80), gynaecologists (n=62), general surgeons (n=45) and urologists (n=37). As seen in the responses, while 62,2% of general surgeons believed that all patients under the age of 18 should be considered as children and treated by pediatric surgeons, 88,5% of gynaecologists, 56,8% of urologists, and 52,5% of pediatric surgeons disagreed. The differences between the responses were also found to be significant (p<0.001).

Conclusion: The results indicated that most pediatric surgeons working in Turkey –– and a significant number of adult surgeons from other specialisms –– believed that the surgical treatment of AP and AM patients should not be managed exclusively by pediatric surgeons. Further, the results suggested that in Turkey, pediatric surgeons and adult surgeons failed to agree on this issue, and thus, additional legal regulations are required to guide medical professionals on this issue to mitigate instances of malpractice cases and improve child safety in medical settings. Ultimately, we believe that the best solution is to reduce the number of adolescents becoming pregnant via education on abstinence and/or contraception

Cite as: Atıcı A, Çelikkaya ME, Dolapçıoğlu K, Uğur M, Dirican E, Görürü S, Akçora B. The Treatment of Adolescent Pregnant and Adolescent Mothers Aged 13–18 Years With Non-Obstetric Surgery Indications: The opinions of Turkish surgeons. Coc Cer Derg/Turkish J Ped Surg 2022;36(3):34-39.