Can ectopic pregnancy be detected with test strips?

Nowadays, the number of ectopic pregnancies is constantly increasing, but the risk of ectopic pregnancy for women is very high. Under normal circumstances, ectopic pregnancy cannot be detected by early pregnancy test strips. Early pregnancy test strips can detect whether you are pregnant, but cannot judge other situations. Once you realize that you are pregnant, you must go to the hospital for examination as soon as possible to confirm the normal and health of the fetus, avoid the occurrence of ectopic pregnancy, and reduce the great harm to women. Therefore, if women want to have children, they must prepare for a period of time in advance.

Can ectopic pregnancy be detected with test strips?

Early pregnancy test strips are not omnipotent. They can only detect whether you are pregnant, but cannot detect ectopic pregnancy. As for ectopic pregnancy, the best diagnostic method now is to check through B-ultrasound.

Early pregnancy test strips can only confirm whether you are pregnant, but cannot determine the type of pregnancy, that is, it cannot determine whether it is an intrauterine pregnancy or an ectopic pregnancy.

The early pregnancy test strip tests the HCG hormone in the urine. HCG is produced by trophoblast cells and is a hormone unique to pregnant women. It will not be detected in the urine of non-pregnant women. If HCG hormone exists in the urine, the early pregnancy test strip will show a positive reaction. The early pregnancy test strip determines whether you are pregnant by detecting the presence of this hormone.

The incidence of ectopic pregnancy has been very high in recent years. In order to ensure the safety of women, the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy needs to be confirmed after a B-ultrasound in the hospital. It is necessary to see whether the gestational sac is implanted in the uterus to make a diagnosis. If people know that they are pregnant through self-testing but are not sure whether it is an ectopic pregnancy, it is best to go to the hospital for a check-up to confirm the diagnosis.

In addition, pregnancy tests are not 100% accurate. For example, a positive reaction may also occur in pathological conditions such as ectopic pregnancy, hydatidiform mole or choriocarcinoma. Moreover, although early pregnancy test strips are said to have an accuracy rate of 99%, without the guidance of a doctor, the test results are generally only 50%-75% accurate. Therefore, not only can early pregnancy test strips not determine whether it is an ectopic pregnancy, but sometimes they cannot even accurately determine whether you are pregnant.

How to use early pregnancy test strips to detect ectopic pregnancy?

Generally speaking, as long as you are pregnant, whether it is an ectopic pregnancy or a normal pregnancy, the early pregnancy test can detect it, but it is not ruled out that it cannot be detected. It is recommended that women go to the hospital for a B-ultrasound examination.

Usually, two lines on the early pregnancy test paper indicate pregnancy. The depth of the color depends on the value of human chorionic hormone (β-hcg). Usually, the test can be detected two weeks into the pregnancy. The so-called two weeks is counted from the first day of menstruation. The location of conception can be seen from the ultrasound at 4-5 weeks of pregnancy, but this is based on people with normal cycles. If the cycle is abnormal, the relative time will be longer, and further B-ultrasound will be needed to know whether the conception is intrauterine or extrauterine.

The diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy depends on B-ultrasound to see whether the gestational sac is implanted in the uterus. Can the test paper detect ectopic pregnancy? The early pregnancy test paper can only determine whether you are pregnant, but it cannot determine the type of pregnancy, that is, it cannot determine whether it is an ectopic pregnancy.

What does an ectopic pregnancy test show?

Now many female friends know that they can determine whether they are pregnant by using a small early pregnancy test paper. In fact, the early pregnancy test is only a qualitative test. It can only determine whether conception occurs or not. That is, a positive result means pregnancy, and a negative result means no pregnancy. It cannot determine whether it is an intrauterine pregnancy.

The detection principle of the early pregnancy test strip is to determine the level of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) in urine through the colloidal gold method. HCG is a glycoprotein produced by the placenta during pregnancy and can be excreted from the urine through the glomerulus. Therefore, measuring the content in urine is a reliable indicator for diagnosing pregnancy or not. But this is not a golden indicator. First of all, only when the HCG concentration in the blood reaches a certain level will the urine show positive. When an ectopic pregnancy occurs, the HCG level is not as high as that of an intrauterine pregnancy, and the urine may not show obvious results, resulting in a false negative result, misleading people into thinking that they are not pregnant. Secondly, a higher level of HCG may also be produced during an ectopic pregnancy, and the test is positive. Some women overly trust the results of the early pregnancy test paper, thinking that they are pregnant. When they experience discomfort symptoms such as vaginal bleeding and abdominal pain, they still blindly try to preserve the fetus, which delays the disease. Therefore, friends who are preparing to become pregnant are reminded that if the menstruation has stopped for more than 40 days, they should go to the hospital for a check-up to make sure that they are pregnant and that the gestational sac is in the uterus.

The results of ectopic pregnancy testing with early pregnancy test strips are the same as those of ordinary pregnancy tests (the ectopic pregnancy early pregnancy test strips still show 2 lines), so you cannot determine whether it is an ectopic pregnancy based on the test strip examination.

You need to go to the hospital for an ultrasound examination. Only when the ultrasound examination can find the gestational sac in the uterine cavity can it prove whether it is a normal pregnancy. If it is an ectopic pregnancy, you need to go to the hospital for treatment in time. Ectopic pregnancy test will also show positive.

To determine whether it is an ectopic pregnancy, you can do an HCG test with an early pregnancy test paper. If it is positive and an abdominal B-ultrasound examination does not reveal a gestational sac in the uterine cavity, then you should generally consider the possibility of ectopic pregnancy.

Does a negative pregnancy test mean an ectopic pregnancy?

From a medical point of view, whenever you are pregnant, whether it is intrauterine or extrauterine, the blood HCG level will rise. Early pregnancy test strips cannot detect whether it is an ectopic pregnancy, but it can determine whether you are pregnant. If your test is negative and there is no error, you are not pregnant. Because of ectopic pregnancy, the early pregnancy test paper will also show positive results.

If the test paper shows negative, it means you are not pregnant. The symptoms of ectopic pregnancy are lower abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding. The test is positive, but the B-ultrasound cannot see the gestational sac in the uterine cavity. This indicates that it is not an ectopic pregnancy. It is recommended to combine blood test with HCG value to confirm it.

Early pregnancy test strips are not completely reliable because they are a qualitative test, which means they only show positive or negative - positive means pregnancy, negative means not pregnancy. It is a very rough distinction. Only when the HCG value in the blood reaches a certain concentration will the urine show a positive result. The early pregnancy test paper is not 100% accurate. For example, in pathological conditions, such as ectopic pregnancy, hydatidiform mole or choriocarcinoma, a positive reaction will also appear. Although early pregnancy test strips are said to have a 99% accuracy rate, without a doctor's guidance, the test results are generally only 50%-75% accurate.