Hydrosalpinx

[Joanna93]

Hello
I started my first IVF cycle and my doctor did an ultrasound last week. Until then all the doctors said everything was perfect and no problem with me and our infertility was caused by poor quality of my husband's sperm but now it was seen that I have probably hydrosalpinx and my tube has to be removed before we can go through IVF.
Could you please tell your experience with it?
If my doctor saw it on ultrasound, is it certain it is hydrosalpinx and it couldn't be something else (and maybe even worse)? It was really big and round and it hurt when she did the ultrasound. It never has hurt me before. Nurse who took my pap smear said she "can't see well" whatever that meant.
Is it all maybe connected?
Thank you in advance

Sorry to hear that your start to IVF hasn’t been straightforward. I had a hydrosalpinx discovered during my first round of IVF, sometimes the IVF drugs can encourage them to appear.

They are fairly straight forward to identify on ultrasound so if your clinic says you have one then it’s unlikely to be a mistake.

They won’t be able to continue to transfer as the hydrosalpinx is likely to drip toxic fluid into your uterus which can prevent embryos implanting/miscarriage. The treatment is a laparoscopy to clip or remove the tube (salpingectomy). It takes about a week/ten days to recover from the surgery x

Hi Joanna

I had a hydrosalpinx removed in 2015 and the other tube removed a few years later as it "filled" up during IVF treatment.

They definitely interfere with IVF success so it really is best to have it taken out. Also if your other tube is clear and functional it could increase your chances of natural conception potentially.

Do you know how or why it might have gotten blocked? (history of infections/endometriosis etc?) Mine was due to my appendix bursting when i was a kid - the infection and scarring inside led to my tubes becoming scarred and blocked.

The surgery itself isnt too bad - it would be done laproscopically so 3 small incisions in your abdomen. The recovery would take a few weeks but nothing like a fully open surgery.

I had a number of failed transfers before having the second tube removed. Because it kept filling and emptying they couldnt call it an official hydro for a while plus my abdomen is complicated for operating on as there is so much scar tissue in there so im high risk. But after 4 failed FETs the decision was made to take the remaining tube out. The next two goes resulted in my only ever pregnancies (lost both sadly) but it clearly made a difference to my receptivity.

Did they comment on it being sausage shaped? Thats the "classic" hydro presentation but if its really big it can be more rounded in appearance. Try not to stress about it being "something worse". The staff know what "worse" looks like and would tell you if they were concerned about anything more sinister. Just discuss it with them if you need reassurance. They are there to help and support you.

@Porridgeislife

Sorry to hear that your start to IVF hasn’t been straightforward. I had a hydrosalpinx discovered during my first round of IVF, sometimes the IVF drugs can encourage them to appear.

They are fairly straight forward to identify on ultrasound so if your clinic says you have one then it’s unlikely to be a mistake.

They won’t be able to continue to transfer as the hydrosalpinx is likely to drip toxic fluid into your uterus which can prevent embryos implanting/miscarriage. The treatment is a laparoscopy to clip or remove the tube (salpingectomy). It takes about a week/ten days to recover from the surgery x

They did mention toxic fluid and that it keeps me from getting pregnant. Doctor said it should be removed and didn't talk about clipping it. I really hope that doctor wasn't mistaken and removing it will help. Thank you for your response! :)

@Jingles85

Hi Joanna

I had a hydrosalpinx removed in 2015 and the other tube removed a few years later as it "filled" up during IVF treatment.

They definitely interfere with IVF success so it really is best to have it taken out. Also if your other tube is clear and functional it could increase your chances of natural conception potentially.

Do you know how or why it might have gotten blocked? (history of infections/endometriosis etc?) Mine was due to my appendix bursting when i was a kid - the infection and scarring inside led to my tubes becoming scarred and blocked.

The surgery itself isnt too bad - it would be done laproscopically so 3 small incisions in your abdomen. The recovery would take a few weeks but nothing like a fully open surgery.

I had a number of failed transfers before having the second tube removed. Because it kept filling and emptying they couldnt call it an official hydro for a while plus my abdomen is complicated for operating on as there is so much scar tissue in there so im high risk. But after 4 failed FETs the decision was made to take the remaining tube out. The next two goes resulted in my only ever pregnancies (lost both sadly) but it clearly made a difference to my receptivity.

Did they comment on it being sausage shaped? Thats the "classic" hydro presentation but if its really big it can be more rounded in appearance. Try not to stress about it being "something worse". The staff know what "worse" looks like and would tell you if they were concerned about anything more sinister. Just discuss it with them if you need reassurance. They are there to help and support you.

Thank you for your response! 😊 I think my other tube is okay, but as they didn't even see this one before, then who knows what there is and what there isn't... I may have one thought how it could have gotten blocked. My husband had positive mycoplasma few years back, my lab results didn't show that I had it but I took few months before antibiotics and maybe it cleared it before my test. I took antibiotics for pyelonephritis, but doctor didn't mention that it could be the cause and thought that maybe mycoplasma gave me an infection. Doctor did ask me about appendix but mine has been okay. I just am afraid that if they open up and maybe see something else, then they will do fully open surgery. I'm so sorry that you lost pregnancies and hope you will have all the luck in the future. So sad that it has to be so hard for some people to get their little miracle.

About the shape, that's why I suspected it might be something else because I read it should be tubal(?) and it is often on both sides. But doctor showed it to me and it was round and I guess it was big. I don't have anything to compare it with.
Doctor printed it out and tomorrow is another ultrasound. Maybe I get some more information about it then.

@Joanna93 the chances of open surgery for salpingectomy are very low. It’s generally a straight forward keyhole surgery (laparoscopy). Whether your doctor clips or removes it depends on preference. Removal is more complete as clips occasionally fail. They will test the other tube at the same time with dye to check its patency.

I had a one sided hydrosalpinx. Mine ultimately came about due to endometriosis and I had extensive removal of scar tissue and endo on a number of organs at the same time (planned surgery) and that didn’t need a laparotomy. It’s really rare for a laparoscopy to be converted to laparotomy unless something has gone very wrong.

@joanna93 I agree with @Porridgeislife - the chances of them switching to open surgery is soooo low. Laparoscopic technology is so amazing these days - they are able to do so much without doing open surgery so try not to stress over that. Put it this way, with all my complications and excessive scar tissue in my abdomen thanks to my burst appendix, access is super tricky for surgeons, but even so ALL of my ops (and ive had 4 in the name of fertility! 1 investigative, 2 separate hydrosalpinx removals aaaand the removal of a really rare tubal stump ectopic pregnancy) they have never had to cut me open fully. It's always been laparoscopic.

Re infections- sorry i should have been more clear - i meant infections in the abdomen in and around your reproductive organs. So in my case the infection from the burst appendix, other examples might be things like STDS like Chlamydia etc. There are a few different things that can damage tubes because sadly they are super delicate.

Hope your scan was ok and you got more info. I know its hard but trust your doctors - they want to help and look after you. My first hydro looked like a cyst because it was big and round rather than sausage shape, but it was my tube, it was just very full!

To give you a little ray of hope I have just found out i am pregnant again for a 3rd time after a fresh round of IVF. Its early days but i'm really hoping this is our rainbow baby!

Hi ladies,

I'm so sorry to jump on this thread. I've also just been diagnosed with hydrosalpinx and currently ttc my first. Feeling really confused and devastated. Mines presumed to be from endometriosis x