Musculoskeletal considerations during pregnancy

Abstract EN

Pregnancy related musculoskeletal impairment is a common complaint among pregnant women.

It can potentially have a negative impact on their quality of life.

The aim of this study is to calculate the incidence of pregnancy related musculo-skeletal disorders, evaluate the most common disorders and to determine the possible risk factors.

This is a prospective analytic study conducted in Basrah Governorate between January 2013-January 2014.

Pregnant women attended the Primary Health Care Centers and the Gynecological & Obstetric Outpatient Department in Basrah hospitals were asked about any history of musculoskeletal conditions during the current pregnancy, further information was obtained and physical examination was done for patients who had history of musculoskeletal conditions, no investigation was done and there was no follow-up of the patients.

A total of 500 pregnant women with complete data were recruited.

Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 14, incidence and frequency were calculated using standard technique.

Two hundred-sixty of the patients out of the 500 had pregnancy related musculoskeletal conditions during their current pregnancy with overall incidence of 52 %.

One hundred-sixty two of the patients have pregnancy related low back pain which represent 62.3 % of the total disorders, followed by carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in 54 patients who had pregnancy related carpal tunnel syndrome (20.8 %), calf pain in 28 patients, knee pain in 27 patients, hip pain in 21 patients, plantar fasciitis in 16 patients, neck pain in 6 patients, Dequverain’s disease in 5 patients and one patient only had meralgia parasthetica.

In conclusion, the pregnancy related musculoskeletal disorders are common and it is not trivial, for some women it may be the beginning of lifelong chronic discomfort and for others it may cause considerable disability and distress during pregnancy.

Most of these problems can be identified early and treated effectively by active self-management strategies ; administered through good antenatal care.