How dangerous are ectopic pregnancies?

[BigBlender]

In the U.K. how dangerous is it to have an ectopic pregnancy? What is the chance of something really awful happening as a result of one?

Very, very dangerous. As soon as it’s identified that you have an ectopic you need to have surgery arranged or start medication to stop the pregnancy growing any further.

An untreated ectopic is always fatal.

Are you worried that you might have an ectopic pregnancy? If so, get checked out as soon as possible. An ectopic pregnancy is a medical emergency.

My sister is pregnant with an ectopic. She is trying to decide between surgical and some kind of drug management. She has seen on google that is the most common cause of maternal death in early pregnancy and it has really scared her. I was hoping to find some reassuring statistics for her.

I think the medical professional who diagnosed the ectopic should be able to advise on the best treatment - pros and cons of each. I had a tube removed because it had ruptured, so I had no choice. I still went on to get pregnant again and had a straightforward pregnancy.

I hope your sister is ok. It's a very scary place to be in.

It has been found quite early so luckily has not ruptured yet. She is very scared, and anxious she is going to die either because of the ectopic or surgery itself. She is worried she will leave her 2 toddlers behind. I wish I could be there with her.

It is the most common cause of maternal death, but even so it is still very rare for someone to die of an ectopic pregnancy in the UK. Your sister will be fine as she is under medical care. The emotional fallout is much longer lasting unfortunately.

And its definitely ok to be scared. I really feel for her. It's so difficult

Untreated and undiagnosed ectopic pregnancies can be very dangerous but once diagnosed they can be treated safely.

Two relatives of mine have had ectopic pregnancies. One was able to go down the medication route and the second had to go down the surgical management route and lost a tube. She has since gone on to have a successful pregnancy and has a lovely toddler.

Her medical team is best placed to guide her on what to do but it's not something to take too much time over as the risks to the mother are there until the ectopic pregnancy is resolved. Medication is obviously less invasive than surgery but then again all medication comes with its own risk profile and for some you need to wait a few months before trying again to ensure all the drug has cleared your system.

I think they have advised surgery would be the best option but she’s terrified. She’s never had a general anaesthetic before. Her husband isn’t being particularly supportive and I’m not in the UK. Just feel really sad and scared for her.

Surgery on ectopic pregnancy is generally done as a key hole surgery (little cut) and is fairly straight forward. I would imagine the reason why it’s so dangerous is because it kills you if it goes untreated and British doctors aren’t hot on diagnosis in comparison to some other countries with systems that are more geared towards early testing and interventions. I’ve never heard of anyone dying as a result of surgery on an ectopic (although I am sure it must happen but it must be very rare).

I had keyhole surgery and was utterly petrified at the prospect of a general anaesthetic as I'd never had one before. But it was fine - in fact by the time I counted back to 7 from 10, I was thinking 'oooh, this isn't so bad' as I floated away! I wasn't allowed to drive or do any heavy lifting for a fortnight after the surgery, but I felt physically well again very quickly. And as I mentioned earlier, I did manage to get pregnant again with DS2 who is almost 8 now.

Now the ectopic has been identified, she will be fine. I had an ectopic and it was treated with methotrexate - that is because it had not grown to a certain size. I think medical management is only possible if the pregnancy doesn't grow beyond a certain point.

Personally, the hardest part of the ectopic was the length of time it took to end - it was weeks and weeks but that is also quite normal if you have medical management.

She will be fine. The major risk is of it rupturing before it is known about but she is not in that position.

Ditto everyone else - she’ll be fine. Untreated ectopics are not always fatal - just can be dangerous if not detected. Now it’s been picked up she will be ok.
Re surgery - you have more chance of being hit by a bus crossing the road, than dying from the surgery/general anaesthetic. Any surgical danger from ectopic pretty much relates to ruptured ectopic where there is already huge blood loss.

I had surgical treatment and tube removed. It triggered a proper investigation of my infertility and I had a baby later. It was keyhole surgery and very neat and quick to recover from. I hope she’s ok. It was a scary time and I was very sad to lose that baby. The emotional wound took much longer to heal than the physical one.

I had surgery and tube removal on a ruptured ectopic pregnancy earlier in the year. The surgery itself was fine and the recovery fine too. Any trouble I had stemmed from the fact that it had ruptured and I had significant internal bleeding, so I needed blood transfusions as part of my recovery. But I’m fine now, and the scars are fading quite nicely.

She will be fine

@TenThousandSpoons0

Can you explain what you think happens to certain untreated ectopics that makes them not fatal?

Didn’t know if you had some insider info?

Because as I understand it the pregnancy will continue to grow and grow, to the point where the structure that it is contained with in (usually the tube) ruptures and the person has massive blood loss and hypovolemic shock, and ultimately dies without treatment.

@QueenOfPain yes I guess I do have insider info... Ectopic pregnancies can miscarry same as any early pregnancy - so sometimes it resolves by itself (Eg imagine early pregnancy loss where no treatment is required). Needs to be watched with hcg levels +/- scans as can still rupture even if hcg falling. A proportion of “pregnancy of unknown location” will be ectopics that resolve themselves - eg positive pregnancy test, nothing seen on scan, eventually hcg just falls.
Less likely if ectopic is big on scan, or has a heartbeat.
I don’t want to take away from the fact that ectopic is dangerous, esp if medical advice has been that surgery/medication is necessary. But I’m sure there are people on here who have had ectopics but not required those treatments.