Pain months after surgery

I had a salpingectomy to remove my right tube after a ruptured ectopic in early May 2024. My physical recovery went well, and all pain was gone within 2 weeks. However for the past month I’ve been experiencing consistent abdominal pain on my right side, where the pregnancy was.

It’s not severe, nothing like the pain when I had the ectopic, but it’s definitely there. We’re trying for a baby again now, and I can’t help worrying that something’s wrong again. Or even an infection of some sort.

My local EPU can’t help as I’ve not had a positive pregnancy test, and my GP is a nightmare to get hold of.

Any suggestions? Is it normal for post surgery pain to come back months later? Thank you x

Dear Hans516,

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

Experiencing some pain after an ectopic pregnancy is normal as your body has been through a great deal. The pain may be due to adhesions (scar tissue that binds two parts of the body together) which form and take some time to settle. Your body may be preparing to ovulate and many women experience ovulation pain when they did not before their ectopic pregnancy - including myself. You also may have a heightened perception because of the sad loss that you have had to go through. If you find you experience offensive smelling discharge, an increased temperature of more than 37°C, urinary symptoms or just want to be checked out to be on the safe side, it would be worth asking your doctors advice.

If the pain persists, I suggest keeping a pain diary noting when the pain appears, the intensity on a scale of 0-10 and anything that helps the pain eg resting, hot water bottle, paracetamol etc. Visiting your doctors with this information helps them to assess how best to manage your symptoms.

Sending much love,

Karen x

The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust

Registered Charity Number: 1071811

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