All You Should Know About Ectopic Pregnancy and its Possible Treatments

What is Ectopic Pregnancy?

In a healthy pregnancy, from the fertilization of the egg to the delivery of the baby, a woman’s body undergoes a lot of transformations. These changes occur step wise, normally it all starts when a fertilized egg reaches the female uterus and begins to grow. Under special conditions, if the fertilized egg gets attached with the fallopian tube or cervix, instead of the uterus, this type of pregnancy is called ectopic or extra uterine pregnancy. Around 98% of the ectopic pregnancies occur inside the fallopian tubes. As a result, the survival of baby becomes difficult. Statistics show that 1 out of 50 pregnancies turn out to be ectopic, which can be life threatening for women and need immediate medical attention.

When Ectopic Pregnancy is diagnosed?

Ectopic Pregnancy is often diagnosed in the eighth week of the pregnancy via transvaginal ultrasound method. In this method a special instrument is inserted in your vagina to check if any gestational sac is present in the uterus or not. Before that ectopic pregnancy shows the same symptoms of the normal pregnancy such as nausea, sore breasts, fatigue, and missing period. Another way of diagnosing ectopic pregnancy is to determine the hormone levels i.e. progesterone and HCG. If these hormone levels decrease and gestational sac doesn’t appear in the ultrasound, it means your pregnancy is ectopic.

Symptoms associated with Ectopic Pregnancy

In Ectopic Pregnancies, it very rare that the babies will survive. The mother’s life is also at risk. General ectopic Pregnancy symptoms include;

• Nausea and vomiting
• Dizziness
• Fainting or complete unconsciousness
• Severe abdominal cramps at one side
• Vaginal bleeding
• Shoulder, neck pain
• Bleeding and pain if fallopian tube ruptures
• Sharp waves in pelvis
• Rectal pressure

If you feel any of these symptoms, consult the best gynecologist in Lahore MARHAM.pk.

Causes of Ectopic Pregnancy

The most common reason of the ectopic pregnancy is the fallopian tube damage that prevents an embryo to get attached with the uterus. However, there are other few factors that can cause ectopic pregnancy:

• Pelvic surgery history
• Past or current sexually transmitted infections mainly gonorrhea and chlamydia
• Genetic abnormality of the fallopian tube
• Use of an intrauterine device (IUD) for birth control
• Birth control drugs
• Birth defects
• Hormonal factors

Ectopic Pregnancy Risk

All women who are sexually active have some risk for developing ectopic pregnancy. But the risk factors may elevate if you are;

• 35 years or older
• Endometriosis history
• Multiple abortions
• Tube blockage or tubal ligation reversal
• Fertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization (IVF)
• Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) history
• Smoking
• Ectopic pregnancy history
• Structural abnormalities in the fallopian tubes

If you have any of these symptoms, please visit Marham.pk and consult bestgynecologistto minimize future risks for ectopic pregnancy.

How Ectopic Pregnancy can be Treated?

Ectopic pregnancy treatment depends on the development and the location of the embryo in the fallopian tube. In most cases, ectopic pregnancies are dangerous both for the baby and mother. Therefore, it is necessary to remove the fertilized embryo on immediate basis. There are some treatment options that are used for ectopic pregnancy include,

Medications

Gynecologist prescribe several medications that could prevent ectopic mass from bursting. Usually, methotrexate is the common drug used that stops the growth of ectopic mass cells. But self-medication is not safe to use, so it is recommended to consult gynecologist. After discontinuing medications, you need to use contraceptives for minimum three months.

Surgery

In worst cases, surgery is the only option in which embryo is removed to avoid any internal damage. This surgical procedure is called laparotomy. Gynecologist inserted a small camera through incision and remove embryo inside the fallopian tube. If this procedure fails, then whole fallopian tube need to remove completely.

Postoperative care

After surgery, make sure your incisions are clean and dry. In addition, your gynecologist may suggest specific instructions for 6 weeks or you have to keep checking if there are any signs of infection which include;

• Swelling
• Heavy bleeding
• Itching or redness
• Foul smell
• Redness
• Extreme pain

A Way Forward!

No matter how early or late, the pregnancy loss can be devastating for the whole family. So, the only way you can reduce the ectopic pregnancy risk is to maintain good reproductive health and hygiene. It can also reduce the risk of having PID in which fallopian tubes inflammation increases. For more details, visit website MARHAM.pk.

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