Hysterosalpingographic evaluation of tubal patency after ectopic pregnancy

Abstract

In the period 1983 to 1985, hysterosalpingography was performed in 76 women after laparotomy to manage ectopic gestations. Clinical characteristics of these women, including their operative findings, were then correlated with the follow-up hysterosalpingography. Study participants were classified into five groups according to surgical management of the ectopic gestation. In each of the five groups, a substantial percentage of those women with a nonpatent fallopian tube (contralateral to the tube bearing the ectopic gestation) on hysterosalpingography had a normal-appearing fallopian tube at laparotomy. Approximately 50% of women with a history of previous pelvic inflammatory disease were found to have nonpatent contralateral fallopian tubes on follow-up hysterosalpingography.