A retrospective analysis of all pregnant women who had an adnexal mass surgically resected at the Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh, over a 5-year period found an incidence of 20 in 16,260 deliveries during the study period. The most frequent complication was torsion (25% of the cases) and the majority of cases occurred in the first trimester of pregnancy. Two of the women had malignant ovarian tumours. There was no difference in gestational age at delivery or birth weight in patients undergoing emergency surgery versus elective surgery.