Nine year survey of 138 ectopic pregnancies

During the nine years (1986-1994), 138 women underwent surgery for ectopic pregnancies (one for every 213 deliveries). The commonest presenting symptom was abdominal pain (96%) followed by vaginal bleeding (83%). Four patients were asymptomatic and were diagnosed at a routine antenatal ultrasound scan. The most frequent physical findings were abdominal tenderness (87%) and followed by adnexal tenderness (57%), Histories of infertility in 17%, use of intrauterine contraceptive device (13%), and previous ectopic pregnancy in 11% were elicited. Eleven patients (8%) had a false negative urinary pregnancy test and subsequently required surgery. The ectopic pregnancies were tubal in 97% of the cases. There were 3 ovarian ectopics and one cervical ectopic.