Ectopic Pregnancy: Diagnosis and Current Management Strategies
Chapter from the book:
Karakurt,
P.
&
Fırat,
M.
(eds.)
2025.
Current Approaches in The Field of Health.
Synopsis
Ectopic pregnancy is a serious clinical condition that occurs when implantation takes place outside the uterine cavity and represents an important cause of maternal mortality in early pregnancy. Although its incidence accounts for approximately 1–2% of all pregnancies, advances in diagnostic methods have contributed to reduced rates of rupture and mortality. Risk factors include a history of prior ectopic pregnancy, pelvic inflammatory disease, tubal surgery, infertility, assisted reproductive technologies, smoking, and the presence of an intrauterine device. Clinical findings are not always typical, and a substantial proportion of patients may remain asymptomatic. Therefore, transvaginal ultrasonography and serial serum beta–human chorionic gonadotropin measurements constitute the cornerstone of diagnosis.
The majority of ectopic pregnancies are tubal; however, special types such as interstitial, cervical, cesarean-scar, ovarian, and abdominal ectopic pregnancies pose additional challenges in diagnosis and management. Intramuscular methotrexate is the only approved option for medical management. Hemodynamic stability, absence of rupture, and lack of contraindications to methotrexate are prerequisites for medical treatment. In surgical management, salpingostomy and salpingectomy are the main approaches, with the choice guided by tubal condition, fertility desire, and clinical characteristics. When appropriate patient selection is ensured, no significant difference has been observed between medical and surgical treatments in terms of future fertility outcomes.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Papatya Karakurt- Meryem Fırat; Amine Nur Arıkan- Ayçin Köycekaş- Yahya Ateşpolat- Müdriye Yıldız Bıçakçı- Arif Caner Erdoğan- Bilgenur Karaçor- Mehmet Elmalı- Bürke Çırçırlı- Mert Can Emre- Cihan Adanaş- Sezai Özkan- Elem Kocaçal- Ertuğrul Sarı- İlyas Ün- Esra Kuran- Eren Canbolat- Mahir Coşkun- Azad Duman- Merve Kandazoğlu Erdem- Betül Karabudak- Simge Erdal- Meryem Fırat- Burcu Demir Gökmen- Mine Cengiz- Naime Çelik- Rauf Melekoğlu- Ayse Sebnem Erenler- Sanem Can Sarıoğlu- Esra Buğra- Deniz Uğur Cengiz- Selen Özdemir- Şeyda Yetginler Memiş- Ümit Topcuoğlu- Yasin Özden- Zehra Güveren- Gül Bülbül Maraş- Ahmet Utuş