Read more on Pink Elephants Support Network website. Read more on Red Nose website. Unfortunately half of these pregnancies may also end in miscarriage, which cannot be prevented. Miscarriage Despite being common and widespread, miscarriage can be a heartbreaking experience — with up to one in five pregnancies ending before week Read more on Gidget Foundation Australia website. Female sterilisation is a permanent form of contraception. It's a surgical procedure to block the fallopian tubes that carry the egg to the uterus.
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Send to: is required Error: This is required Error: Not a valid value. Symptoms of ectopic pregnancy If you have an ectopic pregnancy, you might experience: One-sided abdominal pain — typically on one side of your abdomen tummy , which can be persistent and severe. Bowel pain — you may experience pain when passing urine or stools. How is ectopic pregnancy diagnosed? Some of the tests used to diagnose an ectopic pregnancy include: vaginal ultrasound blood tests keyhole surgery How is an ectopic pregnancy treated?
Signs of a ruptured fallopian tube are: sudden, severe, sharp pain feeling faint and dizzy feeling nauseous or vomiting diarrhoea shoulder tip pain A ruptured fallopian tube is a medical emergency. Why does an ectopic pregnancy happen? The following are all associated with an increased risk of ectopic pregnancy: pelvic inflammatory disease PID — an infection of the female reproductive system , typically caused by chlamydia smoking having a previous history of ectopic pregnancies previous surgery on your fallopian tubes — such as an unsuccessful female sterilisation procedure, or other surgery in your pelvis or abdomen fertility treatment, such as IVF — taking medication to stimulate ovulation the release of an egg can increase the risk of ectopic pregnancy becoming pregnant while using an intrauterine device IUD or intrauterine system IUS for contraception — it's rare to get pregnant while using these, but if you do you're more likely to have an ectopic pregnancy becoming pregnant while using the mini progesterone-only pill having endometriosis increasing age — the risk is highest for pregnant women who are aged In around half of all cases, there are no obvious risk factors.
An untreated ectopic pregnancy can lead to fallopian tube rupture. The resulting blood loss can cause hypovolaemic shock, resulting in organ failure and death. Endometriosis adhesion formation Intrauterine device or intrauterine system. Tubal ligation or occlusion Pelvic surgery — especially tubal surgery reversal of sterilisation.
Assisted reproduction i. If positive, a pelvic USS should be performed - this can determine the presence or absence of an intrauterine 'normal' pregnancy. In cases of tubal ectopics most common , a laparoscopic salpingectomy is usually performed - removing the ectopic and the tube that it is implanted in. Once you've finished editing, click 'Submit for Review', and your changes will be reviewed by our team before publishing on the site.
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site and to show you relevant advertising. To find out more, read our privacy policy. Risk Factors The risk factors for an ectopic pregnancy are shown in Table 1. Past Medical History Contraception Iatrogenic Previous ectopic pregnancy Pelvic inflammatory disease due to adhesion formation Endometriosis adhesion formation Intrauterine device or intrauterine system Progesterone oral contraceptive or implant due to fallopian tube ciliary dysmotility Tubal ligation or occlusion Pelvic surgery — especially tubal surgery reversal of sterilisation Assisted reproduction i.
Clinical Features The leading symptom of ectopic pregnancy is pain. Other symptoms include: Shoulder tip pain — the irritation of the diaphragm by blood in the peritoneal cavity leads to referred shoulder tip pain. This is because the diaphragm and the supraclavicular nerves which innervate the shoulder tip share the C3-C5 dermatomes.
Vaginal discharge — brown in colour, classically described as being akin to prune juice. This is the result of the decidua breaking down. Differential Diagnosis An ectopic pregnancy should always be considered in cases of abdominal pain in a woman of reproductive age. However, its clinical features are largely non-specific , and can be seen in other conditions: Miscarriage Ovarian cyst accident this refers to cyst haemorrhage, torsion or rupture Acute pelvic inflammatory disease Urinary tract infection Appendicitis Diverticulitis By TeachMeSeries Ltd In a miscarriage, HCG level would be expected to halve every 48 hours Where the increase or drop in the rate of change is outside these limits, an ectopic pregnancy cannot be excluded and the patient should be managed accordingly.
Wikiversity Journal of Medicine [CC0]. Management Any patient with a suspected ectopic pregnancy should be admitted to hospital. The definitive management of ectopic pregnancy can be medical, surgical, or conservative. Medical Medical management of an ectopic pregnancy is with IM methotrexate.
Advantages : Avoids the complications of surgical management and the patient can be at home after the injection. Disadvantages : Potential side effects of methotrexate — abdominal pain, myelosuppression, renal dysfunction, hepatitis, teratogenesis patients must be advised to use contraception for months after methotrexate use. The treatment can fail, which would necessitate surgical intervention.
Surgical Surgical management involves the surgical removal of the ectopic pregnancy. Advantages : Reassurance about when the definitive treatment can be provided, high success rate. With salpingotomy, there is also a risk of treatment failure — as some of the pregnancy may remain within the tube. Complications Complications of individual treatments are detailed above.
Found an error? Is our article missing some key information? Make the changes yourself here! Vaginal bleeding tends to be a bit different to your regular period. It often starts and stops, and may be watery and dark brown in colour. Some women mistake this bleeding for a regular period and don't realise they're pregnant. Vaginal bleeding during pregnancy is relatively common and isn't necessarily a sign of a serious problem, but you should seek medical advice if you experience it.
You may experience tummy pain , typically low down on 1 side. It can develop suddenly or gradually, and may be persistent or come and go. Tummy pain can have lots of causes, including stomach bugs and trapped wind, so it doesn't necessarily mean you have an ectopic pregnancy.
It's not known exactly why it occurs, but it can be a sign of an ectopic pregnancy causing some internal bleeding, so you should get medical advice right away if you experience it. You may experience pain when going for a pee or poo.
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