Evaluation of Pregnancy Outcomes in Patients with a History of Bariatric Surgery

Ufuk Atlihan^1*Onur Yavuz²CAN ATA³Huseyin Aytug Avsar⁴Selcuk Erkilinc⁵

• ¹Manisa Merkezefendi State Hospital, Manisa, Türkiye
• ²Dokuz Eylül University, Alsancak, Türkiye
• ³Seyfi Demirsoy State Hospital, Buca, İzmir, Türkiye
• ⁴Faculty of Medicine, Tınaztepe University, Izmir, Türkiye
• ⁵Izmir Democracy University, Karabağlar, Izmir, Türkiye

Introduction: Obesity and overweight are significant risk factors for perinatal morbidity and mortality, and more women of reproductive age are being offered bariatric surgery. The present study investigated the outcomes of pregnancies and births after bariatric surgery (BS). Materials and Methods: All patients who gave birth from 2018 to 2023 in our clinic were included in the study. The participants who had undergone BS previously were determined from the hospital database, and their medical birth records were obtained for data on pregnancy, birth, and perinatal results. The results of women who had undergone BS previously were analyzed by comparing them with other pregnancies. Results: A total of 298 women who had undergone BS previously and 4374 women who had not undergone surgeries were included in the study. The group that underwent BS had a higher ratio of abortion (p=0.009) and IVF history (p<0.001). Pregnancy-induced hypertension (p<0.001), preeclampsia (p=0.04), Gestational diabetes (GDM) (p<0.001), premature birth (p<0.001), cesarean delivery (p<0.001), and small for gestational age (p<0.001) rates were significantly higher in the BS group. Conclusion: Given the potential hazards for women with obesity who are of reproductive age, BS may be seen as a prudent course of therapy. Our study concluded that pregnancy prognosis is close correlated with BMI at the time of pregnancy. Previous research revealed similar findings between groups in terms of pregnancy prognosis and pregnancy complications in obese and extremely obese patient groups.