When a woman who is expecting a baby or who had unprotected intercourse missed her periods, she will suspect whether she is pregnant or not. Present day pregnancy tests will be able to diagnose pregnancy by five weeks time. If the baby is conceived and settled inside uterus (womb) this is called an intrauterine pregnancy.
When the fetus is occupying the fallopian tube (This is the tube which brings the ovum/egg towards the womb after it is shed from the ovary. There is one fallopian tube for each side), ovary or any other site than the uterine cavity where it is normally situated, it is called an ectopic pregnancy.
When the fetus is growing inside the cervix or in the extra “horn” of a bicornuate uterus (a biological abnormality in the uterus) this also called ectopic pregnancy.
The most common reason for an ectopic pregnancy is due to infection causing partial blocking of the fallopian tube, but there are other causes such as abnormal fallopian tubes, endometriosis and other conditions that lead to conception inside the peritoneal cavity. Even IVF (in vitro fertilization) pregnancies have a risk of encountering a ectopic pregnancy and this can be diagnosed very early as the patient will continue to be under specialists’ supervision
Ectopic pregnancy in the fallopian tubes will not grow beyond 8 to 10 weeks. By this time fallopian tube might rupture and intraperitoneal (bleeding inside the abdomen) bleeding occurs.
So if a woman who has missed her period, gets a pregnancy test positive and if no intrauterine pregnancy is diagnosed by abdominal and vaginal scans (ultrasound scans done by keeping a probe on the abdomen and inserting a probe in to the vagina), there could be a chance of an ectopic pregnancy. In addition to this she may feel lower abdominal pain, experience blackouts, feel faintish or pass small amounts of blood through the vagina. If the blood is accumulated in the abdomen behind the uterus she may feel like going to the toilet to pass stools, but when sitting on the commode and strain she may not pass stools. By this time the patient should seek medical advice and doctor should be able to diagnose this fatal condition early.
When early diagnosis is made doctors will decided to give drugs like methotrexate to dissolve the ectopic pregnancy at early stage.
If the ectopic has ruptured doctors might decide to do laparoscopic surgery or open on to the abdomen to remove it . The patient may feel tired and lethargic and may be pale (this is due to bleeding). So doctors might give need to also do blood transfusions as well.
If the fallopian tube is damaged beyond repairs it may have to be removed leaving only the other fallopian tube . If this fallopian tube is partially blocked there is a chance of having another ectopic pregnancy in the other fallopian tube. So a woman who had an ectopic pregnancy earlier is advised to do early pregnancy tests and go for an ultra sound scan to confirm whether her pregnancy is intrauterine or ectopic.
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