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You are here : 3-RX.com > Medical Encyclopedia > Diseases and Conditions > Ectopic Pregnancy: Prevention & Expectations
      Category : Health Centers > Pregnancy and Childbirth

Ectopic Pregnancy

Alternate Names : Pregnancy in the Fallopian Tube, Tubal Pregnancy, Extrauterine Pregnancy

Ectopic Pregnancy | Symptoms & Signs | Diagnosis & Tests | Prevention & Expectations | Treatment & Monitoring

What can be done to prevent the condition?

Not every ectopic pregnancy can be prevented. However, a woman should avoid risk factors that make ectopic pregnancy more likely to occur, including:

  • sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), such as chlamydia and gonorrhea. These STDs can cause pelvic inflammatory disease and adhesions that block the fallopian tubes. Practicing safer sex can help a woman avoid STDs.
  • using other forms of birth control besides an IUD or progestin-only Mini-Pill
  • If a woman who has had a tubal ligation has a positive pregnancy test, she probably has an ectopic pregnancy. She needs further tests right away.

    Four of out 10 ectopic pregnancies occur in women between 20 and 29 years old. Over 75% of these cases are diagnosed before the 12th week of pregnancy.

    What are the long-term effects of the condition?

    A woman's symptoms will last and grow worse as long as the ectopic pregnancy exists. A rupture causes more pain and serious problems if not diagnosed and treated. These problems can include:

  • removal of the affected tube, which causes infertility in about 40% of cases
  • risks from blood transfusions
  • a chronic infection in a tube, known as salpingitis
  • intestinal blockages
  • death, which occurs in 1 in 1,000 cases
  • When surgery is done to treat a ruptured ectopic pregnancy, a later, normal pregnancy is possible in about half of the cases. In the other cases, infertility occurs.

    What are the risks to others?

    An ectopic pregnancy is not contagious. It poses risks only to the mother and the fetus.


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    Ectopic Pregnancy: Diagnosis & Tests

     

    Ectopic Pregnancy: Treatment & Monitoring

    Author: Eva Martin, MD
    Reviewer: Eileen McLaughlin, RN, BSN
    Date Reviewed: 07/27/01



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