Previous cesarean delivery and the risk of ectopic pregnancy.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether previous cesarean delivery is an independent risk factor for ectopic pregnancy.


METHODS
We analyzed data collected between October 1988 and August 1990 from a case-control study of ectopic pregnancy among parous, black, non-Hispanic women, 18-44 years old, at a major metropolitan hospital in Georgia. Cases were 138 women with confirmed ectopic pregnancy; controls were 842 women either seeking abortion or delivering an infant. Unconditional logistic regression was used to estimate the relative risk while controlling for the effects of potential confounders selected a priori.


RESULTS
Adjusted for age, parity, marital status, history of pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, douching, and smoking, the odds ratio was 0.6 (95% confidence interval 0.4-1.1), indicating no significant association.


CONCLUSIONS
We found no evidence of an increased risk of ectopic pregnancy related to previous cesarean delivery.
Kendrick
J S
JS
Division of Reproductive Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Tierney
E F
EF
Lawson
H W
HW
Strauss
L T
LT
Klein
L
L
Atrash
H K
HK
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002585:Cesarean Section; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011247:Pregnancy; D011271:Pregnancy, Ectopic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors