A case of small bowel obstruction with elevated aspartate transaminase/alanine transaminase (AST/ALT) in the third trimester of pregnancy.

Park, Jun Ho; Yoon, Sang Ho; Jeon, Dong Su; Yang, Hyun Sung; Lee, Chae Hyeong; Park, Hyun Soo; Min, Eung Gi

doi:2010.53.6.525

Obstet Gynecol Sci > Volume 53(6); 2010 > Article

Case Report

Korean Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 2010;53(6):525-530.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5468/kjog.2010.53.6.525 Published online June 1, 2010.

A case of small bowel obstruction with elevated aspartate transaminase/alanine transaminase (AST/ALT) in the third trimester of pregnancy.

Jun Ho Park, Sang Ho Yoon, Dong Su Jeon, Hyun Sung Yang, Chae Hyeong Lee, Hyun Soo Park, Eung Gi Min

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, Korea. yoonprou@dumc.or.kr

Abstract

The intestinal obstruction during pregnancy is rare but early diagnosis and treatment is essential. This disease can be diagnosed very late because the presenting symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain are often seen in normal pregnancies and most pregnant women avoid radiologic examinations. Moreover, this disease can be accompanied by high aspartate transaminase/alanine transaminase (AST/ALT) which can be also found in acute fatty liver of pregnancy or preeclampsia, and it makes diagnosis to be much delayed. If the diagnosis were delayed much, maternal and perinatal mortality would be increased highly. Therefore, the previous record of abdominal surgery or above mentioned symptom should be considered as the intestinal obstruction, and simple abdominal x-ray for early diagnosis and prompt operation step are critical. We present a case of small bowel obstruction accompanied with high AST/ALT during pregnancy which had the history of previous cesarean section with a brief review of the literature.

Key Words: Intestinal obstruction, Pregnancy, Fatty liver