Having an appendix removed does not reduce a woman's chances of getting pregrant, according to a new study.
Health on Female First
The researchers, at the University of Dundee, found that women who'd had their appendix removed were actually more likely to get pregnant than women who hadn't had the surgery.
Mr Sami Shimi, a surgeon from Dundee University, led the research and explained that he had been amazed by the results of the research.
However, he stressed that further work would be needed to establish whether findings could pave the way to a potential new fertility treatment.
He said: "Clearly, for women who used to fear having an appendectomy because of its effects on pregnancy, that fear is unfounded. Previous studies are flawed.
"But we are not at the stage of saying that this has opend up the possibility of some form of fertility treatment.
"We are making it clear that, at this stage, women should not present to have their appendix removed to increase their chances of fertility. We do not have any evidence to suggest that this is in fact the correct course.
"But, without a doubt, these surprising resuly open up the need for further research."
The research found that out of more than 76,000 women who had undergone an appendectomy, 39 per cent had a first pregnancy within 10 years.
The rate was twice as many women who had not had the surgery was only 28 per cent. The fertility gap remained after accounting for age, birth control use, number of previous hospitalisations and other factors.