Causes, Symptoms and Diagnosis of Ectopic Pregnancy

Not always pregnancy for a woman ends up safely, a lot depends on where the fertilized egg will be able to attach itself. If it is in the uterus, then everything is normal, but the attachment and development of it outside the uterine cavity (in the tubes, on the ovaries, in the abdominal cavity), called ectopic pregnancy, can lead to rupture of the uterine tube and peritonitis.

Causes

Almost always an ectopic pregnancy occurs after an inflammatory disease in the small pelvis or infectious processes of the genitourinary system. Inflammation leads to scar formation in the abdominal cavity and lumen of the fallopian tubes. This is the end of most abortions, severe labor and sexual infections.

Another cause of ectopic pregnancy is infantilism, which manifests itself in the underdevelopment of all the departments of the female reproductive system. Fallopian tubes look elongated, sinuous and narrow. Their contractility is weak.

All these factors make it difficult to move the fertilized egg to the uterus, where it normally should attach. Lingering in the tube or not at all into it, it begins to develop outside the uterus. Over time, the fetal egg ceases to be located in such a small space as the fallopian tube and its rupture occurs. This can happen already at 4-6 weeks of pregnancy.

Symptoms

Blood, trapped in the abdominal cavity, provokes the appearance of cramping pains in the lower abdomen, dizziness and loss of consciousness.

Bleeding is not a permanent sign of ectopic pregnancy. It is also possible that the wall at the fetal egg ruptures, and not the tube. Then it, hitting the abdominal cavity, can cause mild pain, nausea and smearing discharge from the vagina. The scantiness of clinical symptoms and their short duration leads to the development of purulent peritonitis, which occurs with fever, confusion, nausea, vomiting.

Diagnostics

Unfortunately, the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy is not carried out in time, because there are no signs that could clearly testify about it. Most women, if they find symptoms such as menstruation, swelling of the breasts and nausea, do not go to a women's consultation, believing that this is a normal pregnancy.

Often, an ectopic pregnancy, the diagnosis of which was not carried out on time, makes itself felt sharply, without precursors. However, it is possible to prevent such a catastrophe, it is enough to apply already in the first week of delaying menstruation in a women's consultation.

Diagnosis of an ectopic pregnancy consists in carrying out ultrasound of the uterus. With the help of modern devices you can see the fetal egg at the very beginning of pregnancy and determine whether it is in the uterus or outside it.

Also, the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy can be carried out according to the level of hCG (a hormone that is in the blood only during pregnancy). If the pregnancy is ectopic, the level of hCG is sharply reduced in comparison with the normal pregnancy on equal terms.

Treatment

Diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy should be carried out at the earliest possible date, because the extent of surgical intervention depends on this. So, if there is no rupture of the tube, laparoscopic surgery can be dispensed with when manipulations are performed through small punctures in the abdominal wall. In this case, the fallopian tubes are preserved.

If the tube and peritonitis are broken, they will already have to undergo a laparotomy (incision of the abdominal wall), and remove the uterine tube.

It is necessary to take care of your health, because timely visits to a woman's consultation can prevent the development of serious complications and even death.