Musculoskeletal Problems in Pregnancy

Abstract

Introduction: Pregnancy induces many modifications in a woman's body which include changes in posture, changes in blood physiology, weight gain, changes in musculotendinous strength, joints, and ligaments laxity. Many researchers have suggested that the incidence of back pain in pregnancy is between 30% to 70%. The main objective of this study is to offer an extensive view of the musculoskeletal problems experienced during pregnancy and to find out the most common causes of musculoskeletal pain and symptoms in pregnancy. Materials and methods: This study was conducted at Dow University Hospital in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery from December 2020 to February 2021. After taking ethical approval from IRB (Institutional Review Board) of Dow University of Health Sciences, a total of 184 women are included in this study. Antenatal follow-ups of the patient were conducted in this study, during which certain musculoskeletal problems during pregnancy were asked. The participants who had a term pregnancy (37-42 weeks), aged between 18-45 years, during antenatal visits were included in the study. Those who had prior musculoskeletal disorders other than pregnancy e.g. rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, SLE (systemic lupus erythematosus) were excluded from the study. Results: The participants of our study had a mean age of 30.15 ± 6.80 years. Most of the participants were graduates i.e. 143(77.72%). Average weight gain during pregnancy was 13.69 ± 6.80 kg and only seven (3.80%) participants did aerobic exercise during pregnancy. Regarding timings of the musculoskeletal symptoms, most of the participants had symptoms at night i.e. 155(84.24%). The low backache was seen in 168(91.3%) participants, arthralgia was seen in 135(73.4%) participants, arthritis was seen in 69(37.5%) participants, and neck pain was seen in 64(34.8%) participants. Conclusions: Musculoskeletal problems due to pregnancy cause a huge burden on the health economy. The most common musculoskeletal problems include low backache, arthritis, arthralgia, and neck pain. Weight gain and a sedentary lifestyle during pregnancy make these problems even worse. Further studies on a larger scale are needed to validate the results of this study. Keywords: Musculoskeletal problems, Pregnancy, Arthritis, Arthralgia, Low back pain, Neck pain