The Impact of Upper Abdominal Pain During Pregnancy Following a Gastric Bypass

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to describe the risk of internal herniation (IH) and the obstetric outcome in pregnant women with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and episodes of upper abdominal pain.

METHODS: The cohort included 133 women with RYGB: 94 with 113 pregnancies, from the local area referred for routine antenatal care (local cohort) and 39 with 40 pregnancies referred from other hospitals for specialist consultation due to RYGB. RYGB was mainly performed without closure of the mesenteric defects. Data collected from medical records were episodes of upper abdominal pain, pregestational and gestational abdominal surgery and pregnancy outcome. The risk of upper abdominal pain was estimated in the local cohort. Surgical intervention, IH and obstetric outcome according to pain were evaluated for 139 pregnancies with delivery of a singleton after 24 weeks of gestation (birth cohort).

RESULTS: Upper abdominal pain complicated 42/113 (37.2 %) pregnancies in the local cohort and 11 women (9.7 %) had IH. In the birth cohort, upper abdominal pain complicated 64/139 (46.0 %) pregnancies; surgery was performed in 30/64 (46.9 %), and IH diagnosed in 21/64 (32.8 %). The median gestational age at onset of pain was 25 + 3 weeks. Women reporting abdominal pain had a higher risk of preterm birth (n = 14/64 vs. 1/75, p < 0.005), lower median gestational length (269 vs. 278 days, p < 0.005) and lower median birth weight (3018 vs. 3281 g, p = 0.002) compared to women without abdominal pain.

CONCLUSIONS: Upper abdominal pain during pregnancy is frequent among women with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, is often due to IH and is associated with adverse pregnancy outcome.