Bowel obstruction and perforation during pregnancy: Case report and literature review

Abstract

Objective: Bowel perforation during pregnancy is a rare but life-threatening situation, and the management remained uncertain. We presented a case in our hospital and reviewed literatures to provide a guidance to deal with this challenging situation.

Case report: A case at gestational age 26 weeks and 4 days, who had bowel perforation over previous ileo-colonic anastomosis site. The fetus was delivered via cesarean section after 1 week of operation and both were discharged without major complication at 35 days after delivery. We searched Pubmed and reviewed 15 English literatures and make a discussion.

Conclusion: A simultaneous cesarean section could be considered if the gestational age was large enough to avoid the comorbidity of preterm birth or the maternal risk of sepsis outweigh the risk of preterm birth. Otherwise, tocolysis should be used in an attempt to delay delivery until the antenatal corticosteroids have worked.

Keywords: Bowel perforation; Pregnancy.