How many days can it take to detect an ectopic pregnancy?

For women who want to get pregnant and have children, ectopic pregnancy is undoubtedly bad news, because it means that the pregnancy has failed. Not only that, ectopic pregnancy can cause great harm to women, such as severe abdominal pain, followed by vaginal bleeding, sometimes heavy bleeding. Because of the pain and bleeding, severe cases may even cause shock. Therefore, you must go to the hospital for treatment as soon as possible. So how long does it take to detect an ectopic pregnancy?

How long does it take to detect an ectopic pregnancy?

Ectopic pregnancy can usually be detected through B-ultrasound around 40 days into the pregnancy.

There is no difference between the early symptoms of ectopic pregnancy and normal pregnancy. Pregnant women will still experience early pregnancy reactions such as amenorrhea and morning sickness. These surface symptoms cannot be judged, but if the menstrual cycle is normal, the gestational sac can be seen through B-ultrasound around 40 days of pregnancy. At this time, you can see whether the gestational sac is in the uterine cavity. If not, it indicates an ectopic pregnancy.

In addition, it can also be judged by the symptoms of ectopic pregnancy rupture. If a pregnant woman in the early stages of pregnancy experiences vaginal bleeding accompanied by abdominal pain, she should be careful as it is likely an ectopic pregnancy and should go to the hospital immediately for an ultrasound and blood HCG test to determine whether it is an ectopic pregnancy.

How to determine whether it is an ectopic pregnancy

Before the ectopic pregnancy ruptures, the pregnant woman's labor symptoms are not very obvious and diagnosis is difficult, but the following examinations can determine ectopic pregnancy.

1. Progesterone test

After pregnancy, the progesterone level of pregnant women continues to increase, but the increase in progesterone level in ectopic pregnancy is different from that in normal pregnancy. Clinically, it is believed that ectopic pregnancy can be ruled out when the progesterone level in early pregnancy is higher than 20ng/ml. However, when the progesterone value is lower than 10ng/ml, it is very likely an ectopic pregnancy and requires further confirmation by B-ultrasound examination.

2. Blood HCG test

Pregnant women can also use blood HCG tests to determine ectopic pregnancy. If the HCG value of a pregnant woman increases by more than 66% every two days, it can be diagnosed as an intrauterine pregnancy; if the HCG secretion of a pregnant woman is very low, the daily increase is small, and it increases by less than 50% in 48 hours, it is very likely an ectopic pregnancy, and an ultrasound examination should be performed for further confirmation.

3. Ultrasound examination

B-ultrasound examination is the most effective way to rule out ectopic pregnancy. If the B-ultrasound shows a gestational sac in the uterus, it is a normal pregnancy, otherwise it is an ectopic pregnancy. But there is a disadvantage of B-ultrasound examination. It cannot detect the pregnancy right after it happens. It takes about 45 days of pregnancy to have an ultrasound to see it.

4. Laparoscopy

Laparoscopy is the gold standard for the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy. When using a laparoscope for examination, with the help of a visual system, it is possible to clearly determine whether it is an ectopic pregnancy, and if confirmed, it can be maintained and treated under the microscope at the same time.

5. Posterior vaginal fornix puncture

Suitable for patients suspected of intra-abdominal bleeding. Intra-abdominal bleeding is most likely to accumulate in the rectouterine pouch. Even if the amount of bleeding is not large, blood can be drawn out through puncture of the posterior vaginal fornix. In the case of old ectopic pregnancy, small pieces of old blood or non-coagulated blood may be drawn out. When there is no internal bleeding, the amount of internal bleeding is very small, the hematoma is located higher, or there is adhesion in the rectouterine pouch, blood may not be able to be drawn out. Therefore, a negative posterior vaginal fornix puncture cannot rule out tubal pregnancy.

6. Endometrial pathology examination

Diagnostic curettage is only suitable for pregnant women with heavy vaginal bleeding. It is a pathological examination of the uterine cavity discharge. If villi are found in the slice, it is an intrauterine pregnancy. If only decidua is seen without villi, although it should be considered as an ectopic pregnancy, it cannot be used as a definite result.