Surgical Treatment of Ectopic Pregnancy

In most cases of ectopic pregnancy, medical treatment with methotrexate is successful. However, some cases still require surgery and laparoscopy is an effective approach. The candidates for surgical treatment include women who are not suitable to or have failed methotrexate treatment, those with heterotopic pregnancy, or those who are hemodynamically unstable. In women of reproductive age with tubal pregnancy, salpingostomy is the preferred surgical method. Conversely, salpingectomy is a better treatment for women with severely damaged fallopian tube, recurrent ectopic pregnancy in the same tube, uncontrolled bleeding after salpingostomy, large tubal pregnancy (> 5 cm), heterotopic pregnancy, and for those who have completed their family. Similar to treatment of a tubal pregnancy, cervical and interstitial pregnancy could be treated medically first. Most abdominal pregnancies are diagnosed late in pregnancy. However, when the diagnosis is made early, laparoscopic removal of the pregnancy should be performed.