Pregnancy After Roux en Y Gastric Bypass: Nutritional and Biochemical Aspects

Although pregnancy after bariatric surgery is related to risk reduction, nutritional complications may occur. This study aimed to evaluate nutritional and biochemical indicators of women who became pregnant after Roux en Y gastric bypass (RYGB).

We carried out a retrospective study with women who became pregnant after RYGB. We evaluated anthropometric, biochemical, and dietary intake indicators in the preoperative period and before, during, and after pregnancy by analysis of medical records. Shapiro-Wilk test and ANOVA for repeated measures were performed (p < 0.05).

The study included 25 patients (35.7 ± 3.8 years), who became pregnant 31.3 ± 21.7 months after RYGB. Weight loss until the beginning of pregnancy was 32.4%, and the gestational weight gain was 3.8 ± 12 kg. There was a higher frequency of patients with hypertension in the preoperative time when compared to that during the pregnancy period. Total cholesterol (180.9 ± 24.8 versus 148.5 ± 30.4 mg/dL), LDL-cholesterol (103.5 ± 19.2 versus 85.8 ± 23.1 mg/dL), HDL-cholesterol (56.4 ± 8 versus 46.9 ± 8.7 mg/dL), and latent iron-binding capacity (337.6 ± 95.8 versus 277.8 ± 65 μg/dL) were higher during the pregnancy compared to that before the pregnancy, while hemoglobin values (11.2 ± 1 versus 12.3 ± 1.2 g/dL) and sodium (138.8 ± 2.9 versus 141 ± 3 mmol/L) were lower. No differences of food intake were found among times. There is no difference on gestational weight gain between women who became pregnant before or after the first year.

During pregnancy, there was an expected weight gain and maintenance of the lipid profile within the normal range; however, there was a reduction of hemoglobin levels. These findings show the need for individualized follow-up with adequate nutritional intervention in the event of deficiencies.