What is an ectopic pregnancy?
Ectopic pregnancy is a gestation or implantation of the embryo outside the uterus, usually in the fallopian tubes. These are gestations that will not evolve and require medical or surgical treatment. Specialists in gynecology distinguish different causes for this type of pregnancy, the most frequent are:
- Pelvic inflammatory diseases in women that alter the correct functioning of the tubes.
- History of previous surgical interventions on the pelvis.
- Smoking
- Endometriosis
Symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy
Initially it presents as a positive pregnancy test, but it may appear a small vaginal bleeding, pelvic pain… If it is not diagnosed and no action is taken, it can cause bleeding in the abdominal cavity and even produce a serious condition that may lead the patient to be admitted to the emergency room and require surgical intervention.
It is usually diagnosed with ultrasound and serial analyses in very early stages, which allows us to act in time to prevent the development of a serious condition.
Treatment of ectopic pregnancy
MEDICAL TREATMENT, a medical treatment is started which requires control with serial analytical tests until the pregnancy hormone is negative.
SURGICAL TREATMENT, is carried out by laparoscopy to evacuate the gestational sac and preserve the tube. In cases where it is necessary, the tube must be removed, either because it has ruptured or because the size of the ectopic gestation is very large. Prognosis.
Can a normal pregnancy occur after an ectopic pregnancy?
Depending on the treatment required for the first ectopic pregnancy, there is a greater predisposition to suffer a second ectopic pregnancy after conservative surgery of the tube: in 10% of the cases an ectopic pregnancy may be repeated in the same tube.