Review article: Functional dyspepsia and pregnancy—Effects and management in a special population

Abstract

Background: Around 10% of Americans meet the Rome IV criteria for functional dyspepsia (FD), with a significantly higher rate in women. FD also has a higher prevalence in women below the age of 50, suggesting that women who are affected are likely to be of reproductive age. Unfortunately, there is a lack of research or evidence-based guidelines on managing FD in pregnancy. Aims and Methods:To address this issue, we aimed to perform a systematic review of the interactions between FD and pregnancy and managing pre-existing FD in the peripartum and post-partum phases using current lifestyle, pharmacological, nonpharmacological and alternative medicine interventions. Results: Due to the lack of Rome IV FD-specific data in pregnancy, we instead performed a narrative review on how existing FD interventions could be extrapolated to the pregnant population. Where possible we use the highest level of available evidence or official guidelines to answer these questions, which often involves synthesising treatment and safety evidence of these interventions in other diseases during pregnancy. Finally, we highlight current substantial knowledge gaps requiring further research for the safe management of a pregnant patient with pre-existing FD. Conclusions: Overall, despite the paucity of knowledge of treating FD during pregnancy, providers can mitigate this uncertainty by planning ahead with the patient. Patients should ideally minimise treatment until after breastfeeding. However, interdisciplinary resources are available to ensure that minimal-risk interventions are maximised, while interventions with more risks, if necessary, are justifiable by both the patient and the care team. Future investigations should continue to elicit the mechanistic relationship between FD and pregnancy while cautiously expanding prospective research on promising and safe therapies in pregnant patients with preexisting FD.

Editorial: Functional dyspepsia in pregnancy—Distinct approaches to a special population. Authors' reply

“…Geisman and Sayuk for their insightful editorial on our review article. 1,2 Their editorial focused on applying the findings to real-world practice while re-iterating the importance of having an approach to functional dyspepsia (FD) in pregnancy.…”

Editorial: Functional dyspepsia in pregnancy—Distinct approaches to a special population

“…Liu et al recently detailed our current knowledge of the physiologic, diagnostic and therapeutic considerations pertaining to functional dyspepsia (FD) in pregnancy 1 . FD is a prevalent disorder of gut–brain interaction, and commonly affects women of childbearing age.…”