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JPGN reports

October 14, 2026 · via Europe PMC

Severe constipation-associated postprandial abdominal pain in a pregnant native-liver biliary atresia survivor after Kasai portoenterostomy: A case report.

Alnounou A, Katwala A, Alabbas M, Sawaf B, Ganguly A, Ibrahim EA, Vikash F.

Journal ArticleOpen access

AI summary — for doctors, generated from the abstract only

Severe constipation, not liver disease, was the main treatable cause of postprandial pain in a pregnant woman with biliary atresia after Kasai surgery.

What was studied

Case report of an 18-year-old at 32 weeks' gestation with 6 weeks of postprandial pain, nausea and poor intake, after extensive negative work-up (endoscopy, CT, CT angiography, gastric emptying scintigraphy).

Key findings

  • Synthetic function was preserved and there was no varices, pancreatitis, obstruction, mesenteric ischaemia or gastroparesis
  • Preterm induction occurred at about 33 weeks 4 days after nonreassuring fetal surveillance
  • Postpartum, imaging review showed severe constipation with rectal impaction as the dominant treatable contributor

Clinical relevance

In native-liver biliary atresia survivors who are pregnant, constipation and medication-related bowel dysfunction deserve consideration before attributing pain to hepatic decompensation.

Who should care

Pediatric Gastroenterology

Limitations

Single case; the abstract does not describe the treatment or final outcome.

Look for constipation as a treatable cause of abdominal pain and poor intake in this group.

This is an AI-generated summary of the published abstract, not a clinical recommendation. It may not reflect the full text or subsequent updates — verify against the original source before acting on it.

Abstract

An 18-year-old woman with congenital biliary atresia status post Kasai portoenterostomy and magnetic resonance imaging-reported chronic liver disease presented at 32 weeks' gestation with 6 weeks of worsening postprandial epigastric/right upper quadrant pain, nausea, and poor oral intake. Evaluation showed preserved hepatic synthetic function and no demonstrated clinically significant portal hypertension. Endoscopy excluded esophageal and gastric varices, computed tomography showed no imaging evidence of pancreatitis, biliary obstruction, or other acute intra-abdominal pathology, computed tomography angiography excluded mesenteric ischemia, and gastric emptying scintigraphy excluded gastroparesis. Nonreassuring fetal surveillance prompted preterm induction at approximately 33 weeks 4 days. Postpartum symptoms persisted, and imaging review identified severe constipation with rectal impaction/fecalization as the dominant treatable contributor. This case broadens the peripartum phenotype reported in native-liver biliary atresia survivors by emphasizing constipation-associated postprandial abdominal pain, poor oral intake, nutritional risk, and medication-related bowel dysfunction rather than variceal bleeding or hepatic decompensation alone.

DOI

10.1002/jpr3.70253

PMID

42877649

Research metadata (titles, abstracts, authors, publication dates) is sourced from Europe PMC, which aggregates content from PubMed/MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and other providers under the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM/NCBI). NLM does not claim copyright on abstracts; the original journal publishers or authors may hold rights to the full articles. AI-generated summaries are derived only from the abstract, never the full text, and are always labeled as AI-generated.

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