The role of surgery and methotrexate in treating ectopic pregnancy - Research Paper Example

ide from being the leading causes of maternal deaths, roughly 30% of women who had an ectopic pregnancy could experience difficulty getting pregnant (Sember 2007) whereas 40% of women who had ectopic pregnancy will lose their capacity to conceive again (Chow et al. 1987). To give the readers a better idea about the research topic, this report will first provide information regarding the epidemiology of ectopic pregnancy, definition of medical terms, types of ectopic pregnancy, and aims and objective of the study.

Women who happened to experience going through the process of ectopic pregnancy are not only concerned about the high cost of treatments and their future fertility. For this reason, this report will focus on discussing the cost effectiveness and the impact of two surgical procedures (laparoscopy and laparotomy) and Methotrexate on women’s future fertility. Because of higher incidence of risk factors and lower incidence of protective factors, Chow et al. (1987) revealed that there is an increasing trend of ectopic pregnancy has been noted in different parts of the world including the United States over the last two decades.

Specifically in Australia, the incidence wherein a woman can experience ectopic pregnancy is around 16.2 per 1,000 births (Boufous et al. 2001). Since ectopic pregnancies could lead to mortality, immediate medical interventions such as surgical procedures like laparoscopy and laparotomy including pharmacological intervention using Methotrexate is necessary to save the lives of expecting mothers. In line with this, laparoscopy, ultrasound procedures, and assay for human chorionic gonadotropin can be use in detecting early stages of ectopic pregnancy (Kurjak and Arenas, 2005, pp.

273 – 280; Chow et al. 1987). Although laparoscopy can be used in detecting ectopic pregnancy at an early stage, the use of this type of surgical method is not a requirement since ectopic pregnancy can be diagnosed with transvaginal scan combined with