General knowledge of the fallopian tubes

The fallopian tubes are one of the female accessory reproductive organs and are the site where the sperm meets the egg for fertilization and the channel for transporting the fertilized egg to the uterine cavity. The inner end of the fallopian tube is connected to the lateral horn of the uterine fundus and the outer end reaches the ovaries above and is free in the abdominal cavity. One of the openings of the fallopian tubes is connected to the uterine cavity and the other to the peritoneal cavity. According to the morphology of the fallopian tubes, they are anatomically divided into four parts: the interstitial part, the isthmus, the abdomen and the umbilical end. The wall of the fallopian tube is composed of the mucosal layer, the muscular layer and the plasma membrane layer from the inside out. The epithelial cells of the mucosa layer have ciliated cells with oscillating function, which can oscillate toward the distal end of the fallopian tube during the stimulation of female hormones to facilitate the entry of sperm into the abdomen of the fallopian tube, and toward the proximal end of the fallopian tube after ovulation to facilitate the movement of fertilized eggs into the uterine cavity. The oviductal fluid is a plasmacytic leaky fluid containing high quality proteins that serve both as a vehicle for the movement of sperm and eggs and as their nutrients, the content and quality of which are regulated by the hormonal balance of the ovaries. Tubal pathology accounts for 1/3 of the infertility factors in female infertility patients. Common pathological changes in the fallopian tubes include obstruction, adhesions, effusion, elevation, stiffness, and absence of the umbilical ends. Common causes of abnormal tubal morphology and function are as follows: 1. Abortion: Abortion is a method of terminating pregnancy by removing the pregnancy sac outside the uterus with surgical instruments. Abortion itself does not lead to tubal abnormalities, but post-operative treatment without medical advice often results in inflammation and adhesions in the fallopian tubes, resulting in tubal obstruction and secondary infertility. 2. Endometriosis: endometriosis in the fallopian tube causes inflammation of the fallopian tube, adhesions, obstruction, effusion and other lesions on the one hand, and erosion of the mucosal layer of the fallopian tube on the other, causing the cilia of the fallopian tube to lose their wiggling function. Pelvic surgery and pelvic inflammatory disease: pelvic surgery and pelvic inflammatory disease can lead to pelvic adhesions, which are like “glue” and make the fallopian tubes lose their normal peristaltic function and cannot help the sperm enter the abdomen of the fallopian tubes or help the fertilized egg enter the uterine cavity from the abdomen, thus increasing the incidence of infertility and ectopic pregnancy. This increases the incidence of infertility and ectopic pregnancy. In addition, adhesions can change the normal anatomical position of the fallopian tubes, for example, by elevating the fallopian tubes so that the umbilical ends of the tubes are far away from the ovaries, thus losing the function of “picking up” eggs. In addition, pelvic inflammatory disease can cause adhesions to the umbilical ends of the fallopian tubes, resulting in tubal effusion. 4. pelvic tuberculosis: pelvic tuberculosis can stiffen the form of the fallopian tubes and cause them to lose their peristaltic function, thus losing their role in transporting eggs and fertilized eggs, which is one of the major causes of tuberculous pelvic inflammatory infertility. The term “fallopian tube” is a high level summary of the morphology and function of the fallopian tubes. The word “fallopian tube” is a generalization of the function of the fallopian tube; “egg” refers to the object of the fallopian tube, i.e., the egg and the fertilized egg; “tube” is a description of the morphology of the fallopian tube. How to correctly understand the relationship between the function and morphology of the fallopian tubes is the key to clinical treatment of fallopian tube pathology. A patent fallopian tube is only a necessary condition for its normal function, but it must also be flexible, agile, and free of ciliary oscillation. The fallopian tubes are not only morphologically “rigid” tubes, but also have to have a good microenvironment in order to perform the function of “egg delivery”. Only with an exhaustive understanding of the anatomical and physiological characteristics of the fallopian tubes can we better deal with tubal pathologies and keep the tubal microenvironment as normal as possible while unblocking the fallopian tubes to create conditions for conception; surgery just for the sake of unblocking is not advisable!