Reproductive performance following ectopic pregnancy

Abstract

The reproductive performance subsequent to operative removal of ectopic pregnancy was examined in 132 women. They represent 44.6% of 296 women admitted for ectopic pregnancy between 1981 and 1989. The follow-up period ranged from 6 months to 9 years, averaging 3.6 years. During the follow-up period, 69 (52.3%) pregnancies occurred. Among them, 60 (87%) were intrauterine and 9 (13% of the pregnant women) were repeated ectopic pregnancies. Full-term delivery was obtained in 73.9% of the pregnant patients. Forty of the 132 patients received conservative surgery and 92 patients received radical surgery for ectopic pregnancy. The operation method had no influence on subsequent fertility in women with an intact contralateral tube, who had significantly higher pregnancy (p less than 0.005) rate (3.8%) than women with an affected contralateral tube (39.5%, 47% and 41%, respectively). Compared with parous women (13.3%), the risk of repeated ectopic pregnancy was similar to nulliparous women (12.5%), but the nulliparous women had a slightly lower conception rate (40%) than parous women (54.8%). Unruptured ectopic pregnancies comprised 41.6% of our cases. There was no significant difference in fertility rate between ruptured and unruptured ectopic pregnancies in our study.