title: Is it necessary to operate on all women with an acute abdomen following medical treatment of tubal ectopic pregnancy?
abstract: The main objective of this retrospective study is to evaluate the question of whether it is necessary to perform surgery for patients who develop an acute abdomen after methotrexate administration in cases of tubal ectopic pregnancy. A total of 26 women with tubal ectopic pregnancy who required emergency surgical evaluation after a single dose of methotrexate treatment were included. The surgical findings were tubal abortion (10 cases, 38.4%); tubal rupture (12 cases, 46.2%) and tubal haematoma (4 cases, 15.4%). The average time for initiation of severe abdominal pain following single dose methotrexate treatment was 6.12 +/- 2.10 days (range, 2-10). The most common site of implantation was isthmus (50.0%) and 38.5% (five patients) of the patients had tubal abortion from this part of the tube, while 46.1% of women (six patients) with isthmic localisation had a tubal rupture. Following medical treatment of ectopic pregnancy, surgery may be an option in the presence of symptoms/signs of acute abdomen (in the presence or absence of haemodynamic instability) and free pelvic fluid on sonography for only patients with isthmic tubal ectopic pregnancy, or if the isthmic localisation of tubal ectopic pregnancy is suspected on sonography.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Etlik Zubeyde Hanim Womens' Health and Teaching Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dilbaz
authors.forename: E S Guvendag
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Guven
authors.forename: B Aykan
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Yildirim
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gelisen
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Karcaaltincaba
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kurtaran
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Haberal
mesh_terms: D000006:Abdomen, Acute / Q000601:surgery*; D000020:Abortifacient Agents, Nonsteroidal / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000328:Adult; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008727:Methotrexate / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011274:Pregnancy, Tubal / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000601:surgery*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012422:Rupture, Spontaneous; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000020:Abortifacient Agents, Nonsteroidal; D008727:Methotrexate