It is a pregnancy that implants outside the uterus, most-often in a fallopian tube.
Early diagnosis and treatment are very effective. Without, those, the pregnancy will continue to grow in the tube and the tube will eventually burst, causing internal bleeding which could threaten the mother’s life.
Signs and Symptoms
- Colicky (spasmodic) crampy pain with tenderness, starting on one side and often spreading throughout the abdomen;
- The pain may worsen on coughing or straining.
- Often, brown vaginal spotting or light bleeding, (intermittent or continuous), which may precede pain by several days or weeks.
- Sometimes, nausea and vomiting, dizziness or weakness, shoulder pain.
If the tube ruptures, heavy internal bleeding may begin, signs of shock (rapid weak pulse, clammy skin, and fainting) are common, and pain becomes very sharp for a short time before diffusing throughout the pelvic region.
Treatment
Getting to the hospital immediately is important. New techniques for early diagnosis and treatment of tubal pregnancy have removed most of the risk for the mother, and have greatly improved the chances of preserving her future fertility.
Diagnosis is usually made through a combination of two procedures:
- A series of highly sensitive pregnancy tests that track the level of the hormone hCG in the mother’s blood (if the levels of the hCG fail to rise as the pregnancy progresses, a possible abnormal pregnancy in a fallopian tube, is suspected)
- High resolution ultrasound to visualise the uterus and the fallopian tube (the absence of a gestational sac in the uterus and a pregnancy developing in a fallopian tube are an indication of an ectopic pregnancy). If there is any doubt, confirmation is most often made by viewing the tubes directly, by means of a laparoscope inserted through the navel. High – tech. diagnostic tools such as these have made early diagnosis of ectopic pregnancies possible, detecting 80 % of them before they rupture.
Successful treatment of an ectopic pregnancy is also dependent on high-tech medicine. Laparoscopy is a procedure via two tiny incisions, one in the navel for the insertion of the viewing instrument, (the laparoscope), and another in the lower abdomen for the surgical instruments. Laparoscopy facilitates a much shorter hospital stay and a more rapid recovery. More recently, the drug methotrexate has been used as an alternative to surgery. It destroys the pregnancy by halting cell growth.
Unless the fallopian tube has irreparable damage, it is usually possible to save it, to improve chances of a successful pregnancy in the future.
