A team of Beaumont researchers, in a recently published article in The Journal of Reproductive Medicine, has found that pregnant patients undergoing medically indicated colonoscopy procedures had safe, and slightly better, fetal outcomes when matched against pregnant women who did not have colonoscopies performed.
The team’s conclusion is that colonoscopy procedures are safe for both mother and fetus and pregnant women should get colonoscopies when strongly indicated during the second trimester of pregnancy.
Mitchell Cappell, M.D., Beaumont’s chief of Gastroenterology and lead investigator of the study says, “Believe it or not, our study of 20 patients is one of the largest done to this point. The colonoscopies we did produced medical findings to help their doctors improve the mother’s health. In turn, we think it may have improved fetal health as well.”
Dr. Cappell adds that the next step is to build on these research findings and do a multi-center trial in the future with 60-70 women to expand the medical evidence base for his team’s findings.
At any given time nearly two percent of American women are pregnant. And, within that group, women sometimes display symptoms indicating a need for colonoscopy. The problem has always been that very few colonoscopies are done because of the lack of scientific evidence of their safety in pregnant women.
This type of research demonstrates Beaumont’s commitment to improving medicine and continually looking for ways to make patient care better. Dr. Cappell hopes that this research will make pregnant women more comfortable getting a colonoscopy during the second trimester. He also wants internists and ob/gyns to have the confidence to order such tests and clarify any potential issues the mom-to-be might have during her pregnancy.
