Dutch women with unexplained abdominal pain seek surgeries abroad amid diagnostic gaps

More and more young women with unexplained abdominal complaints are turning to foreign doctors because they are not receiving satisfactory diagnoses or treatment in the Netherlands, a joint report by NOS Stories and Nieuwsuur has shown.

Some surgeries abroad are based on diagnoses that Dutch specialists do not acknowledge, including rare vascular or gastrointestinal conditions such as gastroparesis or vascular constrictions identified outside the Netherlands.

Young women with these unexplained abdominal complaints often experience severe pain, constant nausea, and frequent vomiting. Many struggle to eat, and some even become dependent on feeding tubes because they can barely consume any food.

In the Netherlands, they often leave without a clear diagnosis and feel dismissed by doctors, some of whom attribute their symptoms to psychosomatic causes. As a result, many turn to private clinics abroad, particularly in Spain, Germany, and Slovakia, where they undergo invasive and often costly surgeries.

Patients use social media and online forums to exchange advice on surgeons and procedures abroad.

Dutch professional associations for gastroenterology, pediatrics, and vascular surgery have issued urgent warnings about these procedures. Specialists caution that these invasive and experimental procedures often lack scientific support, putting patients at high risk of serious complications, including blood infections, intestinal tissue death, and other potentially life-threatening conditions.

They urge improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of women with complex abdominal complaints in the Netherlands, while noting that care standards abroad are not necessarily superior.

Additionally, Dutch hospitals stated that they frequently see patients returning with complications from surgeries abroad, often without complete information on the procedures performed.