Abstract

HERNANDEZ-PINZON, Jairo; CASTILLO-ZAMORA, Marcos  and  ARANGO-GALVIS, Victoria E. Maternal and foetal complications in pregnancy following bariatric (weight-loss) surgery. Rev Colomb Obstet Ginecol [online]. 2008, vol.59, n.3, pp.216-222. ISSN 0034-7434.

Objective: using systematic review tools for describing the effects of obesity on pregnancy for the mother and the foetus, as well as describing perinatal, intrapartum and postnatal complications in patients who have undergone bariatric (weigh-loss) surgery. Methodology: the PUBMED/MEDLINE database was searched using the following search terms: bariatric surgery AND/OR obstetric complications, pregnancy, abortion, pregnancy outcome, adverse pregnancy outcome), emphasizing clinical practice guidelines. Sites giving synopses of the medical literature from the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE) were searched. Results: 50 articles were selected which were synthesised in the review’s results section. Bariatric surgery predisposes itself to intestinal ischemia and the formation of hernias in later pregnancies. Specific micronutrient deficiencies have also been described. Some contradictory reports deal with the effect on foetal weight. Conclusions: no reports regarding important episodes of maternal or foetal malnutrition were found when following-up pregnancies after the first year following surgery for weight-loss. The evidence revealed that the results of pregnancy following bariatric surgery were favourable compared to results in obese women who had not been surgically treated. Further carefully-designed prospective studies are needed for evaluating areas of uncertainty in this field.

Keywords : bariatric (weight-loss) surgery; obstetric labor complication; pregnancy; obesity.

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