From conception to delivery, pregnancy is a series of meticulous steps that happen inside the female human body. There are instances where any of these steps can go wrong to cause pregnancy complications and Ectopic Pregnancy is one such common pregnancy complication experienced by pregnant women around the world. Surgery and Medications, usually constitute Ectopic Pregnancy Treatment performed by Gynaecologist and Obstetricians to help solve this medical problem.
What is Ectopic Pregnancy?
Ectopic is the word that means ‘Out of place’ and as the name suggests Ectopic pregnancy is the pregnancy that happens out of place i.e. outside the uterine cavity, the place where the pregnancy usually must happen.
A normal pregnancy is situated in the cavity of the uterus. Location of the pregnancy at any other location is termed as ectopic pregnancy. It could be located in the fallopian tubes or ovary or cervix. Rarely could it be lying in the abdomen. This pregnancy, which is most commonly in the fallopian tubes can rupture and cause severe bleeding inside the abdomen, which can be life threatening. This is an emergency which may require surgery as the blood loss has to be replenished as well as the pregnancy and the tube has to be removed. If the pregnancy is not ruptured it can be removed by laparoscopy or open surgery. On average one out of every 50 women experience Ectopic Pregnancy in India.
When Ectopic Pregnancy does take place?
A fertilized egg that must travel to the uterine cavity to implant itself can get lost in the way to settle at any other place along its journey. The fertilized egg can settle out of place anywhere near the fallopian tube, abdominal cavity or even the cervix. After the implantation, the egg starts growing at the new location just like it would grow in the uterine cavity. And when the embryo starts to develop outside the uterine cavity, there are two scenarios that can arise:
- The embryo may not get sufficient blood and nutrients as it would receive in the uterine cavity and thus leading to the death of the embryo.
- In case the tissue can provide sufficient blood and nutrients to the embryo, the hormonal balance can get disturbed giving out the symptoms of early pregnancy to pregnant women. And as the embryo grows it can stretch the new tissue over time leading to the pain, rupturing of the tissue causing internal bleeding and damage to the location. This can result in a medical emergency for pregnant women and has to be treated by the gynaecologist as soon as possible.
What causes Ectopic Pregnancy?
The exact reason why a woman specifically suffers from Ectopic Pregnancy is still unknown. Smoking, IVF, IUD, Tubal ligation, structural abnormalities history of pelvic inflammatory disease,
endometriosis, STDS, previous ectopic pregnancies are some of the risk factors of Ectopic Pregnancies in women.
Diagnosis & Treatment Options:
Blood hormone tests and pelvic ultrasound are commonly used by the Gynaecologists to diagnose the Ectopic Pregnancy. As Ectopic Pregnancies are not safe for the mother, the out of place embryo must be removed as soon as possible for the health and long-term fertility of the mother.
For ‘Treatment of Ectopic Pregnancies’ a gynaecologist suggests medication if the immediate complications are found unlikely. Depending upon the placement sometimes complications may arise which need surgery to remove the embryo and repair the internal damage that is caused. Laparotomy is the procedure performed by the laparoscopic surgeons for surgical cases in Ectopic Pregnancy Treatment to remove embryos using small incisions and camera inserted. The embryo is then removed and internal damage is repaired in this procedure and in rare cases, structural revisions have to be performed to fortify women’s health in the long term.
Symptoms of Ectopic Pregnancy:
The symptoms of Ectopic Pregnancy include vaginal bleeding, absence of periods, abdominal pain, and dizziness or fainting, rectal pressure are some of the symptoms of Ectopic Pregnancy. Though some of the above symptoms are common in pregnancy, pregnant women are recommended to get their health status checked by their Gynaecologist to avert any medical complication.
Dr. Neelima Mantri is one of the top laparoscopic surgeons in India who is an expert in ‘Ectopic Treatment’ and has treated hundreds of pregnant women in both cases. If you are living in and around Mumbai, are looking for ‘Best Gynaecologist for Ectopic Treatment in Mumbai’ you can contact Dr. Neelima Mantri here @Call: +91 7045115577