Ectopic pregnancy at a tertiary hospital in North Eastern Nigeria: a 2 year review of the clinical presentations and management

Abstract

Background: Ectopic pregnancy is a life threatening gynaecological condition associated with adverse reproductive health consequences. It commonly implants in the fallopian tube and most patients in the developing world present  late when it has ruptured leading to maternal morbidity and mortality if intervention is delayed.

Method: This was a descriptive cross-sectional retrospective study of patients with ectopic pregnancy managed at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi, North east Nigeria between 1^st January, 2013 and 31^st December, 2014. Data on the age, parity, clinical symptoms and signs and the types of surgical treatment offered was extracted and computed using excel spreadsheet and statistical analysis was done using SPSS (version 23) and results presented as frequency tables, percentages, and mean (± SD).

Results: There were 1,577 gynaecological admissions during the period of study and 98 of them (6.2%) were ectopic pregnancies. The total number of deliveries during the same period was 6,738, putting the incidence of ectopic pregnancy to be 1.45% of all deliveries. Majority of the affected patients (39.2%) were between 25- 29 years with a mean and SD of 26.5 ± 4.9 years. Majority of the patients who had ectopic pregnancy 26 (35.1%) were nulliparous women. Of these patients, 97.3% presented with symptoms of abdominal pain, amenorrhoea (83.8%) and vaginal bleeding (68.9%). 97.3% of them had salpingectomy of the affected side.

Conclusion: Ectopic pregnancy is a common life-threatening emergency in early pregnancy. Efforts made to improve early diagnosis prior to tubal rupture, would help reduce the associated maternal morbidity and eliminate mortality from this condition.