What is ectopic pregnancy? Ectopic pregnancy is an abnormal pregnancy in which the pregnant egg lays outside of the uterine cavity and develops. The cause of ectopic pregnancy is often due to inflammation in or around the tubal lumen, which causes poor lumen patency and prevents the normal operation of the pregnant egg, causing it to stay, settle and develop in the fallopian tube, resulting in miscarriage or rupture of the tubal pregnancy. Clinical manifestations of ectopic pregnancy (1) Menopause: abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding usually occur after menopause, but about 20% of patients complain of no history of menopause. (2) Abdominal pain: It is the main symptom when the patient visits the clinic. The abdominal pain is caused by various factors such as tubal dilatation and rupture, etc. When rupture occurs, the patient feels a sudden tearing pain in one side of the lower abdomen, often accompanied by nausea and vomiting, or diarrhea. (3) Vaginal bleeding: After the death of the embryo, there is often irregular vaginal bleeding (most patients think it is menstruation or early menstruation), dark brown, small amount, usually not more than the amount of menstruation, but the dripping is not clean. (4) Syncope and shock: due to acute intra-abdominal bleeding, syncope is often present in mild cases and shock in severe cases. Diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy In most cases, the diagnosis of early ectopic pregnancy can be made after medical history, gynecological examination, blood β-HCG determination and ultrasound examination, but in some cases where diagnosis is difficult, examination under direct laparoscopy can clarify the diagnosis in time and allow simultaneous surgical treatment. Differential diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy Ectopic pregnancy must be differentiated from the following diseases: 1. early pregnancy with pre-eclampsia; 2. ovarian corpus luteum rupture and bleeding; 3. ovarian cyst torsion; 4. ovarian chocolate cyst rupture and bleeding; 5. acute pelvic inflammatory disease; 6. acute appendicitis and ureteral calculus. Hazards of ectopic pregnancy 1. syncope and shock. Due to acute bleeding in the abdominal cavity, the amount of blood in the circulatory system decreases rapidly, and coupled with severe abdominal pain, the lighter person may faint, and the heavier person may have pale face, cold extremities, rapid and weak pulse and decreased blood pressure, which is called “shock” in medical science. 2. Ectopic pregnancy again. 3.Ectopic pregnancy leads to infertility: blocked fallopian tubes make women infertility and menstrual disorders. The severity of shock depends on the amount of internal bleeding and the rate of blood loss, which is not proportional to the amount of vaginal bleeding. Once ruptured, a large amount of intra-abdominal bleeding occurs within a very short period of time, which can be life-threatening if not resuscitated quickly. Treatment of ectopic pregnancy Surgical treatment: open or laparoscopic surgery can be performed. Non-surgical treatment: chemotherapy, Chinese herbal medicine and interventional treatment, etc. Prevention of ectopic pregnancy The primary principle is to actively prevent and treat pelvic inflammatory diseases and reduce the incidence of chronic tubal inflammation; women who use intrauterine devices for contraception should have regular checkups as required, and pelvic inflammatory diseases should be detected and treated promptly. It should be noted that ectopic pregnancy can also occur after tubal ligation. After ligation, there is a possibility of recanalization because of the body’s ability to repair, and recanalization can easily lead to ectopic pregnancy. Whether a woman’s fallopian tubes are reopened naturally or after surgery, the tubes will not be as open as before, which can lead to the fertilized egg being blocked in the narrow area and settling there, leading to ectopic pregnancy. It is important for women to take care of their physical and mental health at all times, and not to wait until the disease becomes serious before remembering to go to the hospital for examination and treatment.