ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The study was designed to ascertain a proper method of early diagnosis and treatment of ectopic pregnancy by analyzing its clinical and epidemiological characteristics. METHODS: The medical records of patients who were diagnosed to ectopic pregnancy at Hallym medical center during the period from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2007 have been reviewed. RESULTS: The incidence of ectopic pregnancy was 7.3% (1,067) out of 14,519 deliveries. The most frequent age group was 26~30 (29.5%). Risk factors they had were previous histories of abdominal or pelvic surgery (37.0%), artificial abortion (30.8%), pelvic inflammatory disease (12%), and tubal sterilization (9.6%). Most frequent clinical symptoms were amenorrhea (88.7%), lower abdominal pain (81.2%), and vaginal spotting (60.0%). Percentage of patients with hemoglobin level over 10.0 gm/dL was 79% and below 8.0 gm/dL 3.9%. The clinical symptoms of ectopic pregnancy most commonly occurred after 6~8 weeks from last menstrual period (47%). Ectopic gestation was implanted on the fallopian tube in 89%, cornus in 7.2%, ovary in 1.1% and the cervix in 2.7%. Laparosopic surgeries were performed in 755 cases (71.6%) and laparotomies in 273 cases (25.9%) and dilatation and curettages in 26 cases (2.5%). Salpingectomy was performed most frequently (82.4%). Methotrexate (MTX) treatment was successful in 13 cases (1.21%). CONCLUSION: The early diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy is most useful when serum beta-hCG and vaginal sonography are used together. Laparoscopy would be a preferred method because of its short hospitalization period and low complication rate compared with laparotomy in ectopic pregnancy treatment.