More than 1 ectopic?

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1

Hi all,

I know that i am at a higher risk of having a second ectopic but i really want to try to understand what different scenario’s there are with people who have had more than 1 ectopic. I’m just after some case studies really to try to settle my brain.

Are the majority of 2nd ectopics because the first time was resolved by itself or methotrexate and therefore that same tube caused another ectopic?

What % of people who have a tube removed, then go on to have an ectopic on the other side too?

I hope you can all help, thank you :slight_smile:

Katie

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Dear Katie,

I am so sorry to hear of your ectopic pregnancy and loss,

Sadly there isn’t a lot of research in early pregnancy loss and ectopic pregnancy for us to be able to give you statistics.

What I can say that is in terms of chances of future successful pregnancies, studies do not show a significant difference between treatment routes, whether surgical, medical using methotrexate or expectant management (allowing time for the body to resolve the pregnancy itself).

Treatment of a second ectopic pregnancy would be based on individual circumstances, the level of hCG in the blood, any free fluid in the abdomen and general health and wellbeing.

We and medical professionals advise waiting for two menstrual cycles which helps for physical healing, hormonal healing, and emotional healing. The first bleed soon after surgery for ectopic pregnancy is not classed as a period as it is the body’s response to falling hormone levels.

Importantly early scans avail. As soon as you know you are pregnant, contact your local EPU to inform them and book in for an early scan at around six weeks. Remind them of your previous ectopic pregnancy. This self refer route is the best route in our view. Hopefully you will have some comfort to know you are under the radar of medical professionals right away.

Sending much love,

Karen x

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I am not a physician but speaking from my experience about 9 years ago I had an ectopic pregnancy that ended with a ruptured tube which they obviously had to remove, at the beginning of this month I found out I was pregnant super early about 5 weeks in and my first ultrasound was too early to see that the pregnancy was again a tubal one until I went to the ER again a week later due to the fact I had only one tube left the doctor did all she could to remove the baby without removing the tube but a week after surgery my levels were still going up meaning that they didn’t remove all of the pregnancy so they had to give me methotrexate to try to “dissolve” the Rest of the pregnancy and will monitor me until the HCG levels are to 0. Since everyone is different it’s hard to say but my doctor told me that she has seen miracles and tubes to repair fully so the most important thing is to detect pregnancy ASAP and make sure you go to a doctor and make sure that you let them know you have had an ectopic before to make sure you catch it before the tube erupts or you need surgery which can cause scaring and damage …

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I’ve just posted about this too - would love to understand more about the increased risk.