Difference between biochemical pregnancy and ectopic pregnancy

Biochemical pregnancy and ectopic pregnancy are both reproductive physiological phenomena that are very harmful in life. They have a great impact on women, causing harm to their physical health. At the same time, they will also affect women's fertility and add huge troubles to women's lives. These two types of fertility problems have different manifestations. Let’s take a look at the differences between biochemical pregnancy and ectopic pregnancy.

Biochemical pregnancy is when the fertilized egg formed by the combination of sperm and egg fails to return to the uterine cavity to implant or fails to implant after returning to the uterine cavity. It is a type of miscarriage, and the main manifestation is vaginal bleeding, which is similar to a menstrual period and does not require treatment. Ectopic pregnancy is when the fertilized egg implants and develops outside the uterine cavity, mainly in the ampulla of the fallopian tube. The main symptoms are severe abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding. As the gestational sac grows, it is easy to cause fallopian tube rupture and heavy bleeding, which is life-threatening and requires timely visit to the obstetrics and gynecology department of the hospital.

You can go to the hospital for an ultrasound examination about six weeks after pregnancy to confirm the pregnancy and observe the development of the gestational sac.

An ectopic pregnancy generally means that the woman is pregnant, but the fertilized egg is not implanted in the uterus, but somewhere else outside the uterus. A biochemical pregnancy means that the fertilized egg is formed, but has not yet implanted in the uterus, and miscarriage has already occurred. Biochemical pregnancy will cause bleeding, but if the gestational sac is not ruptured in ectopic pregnancy, bleeding generally will not occur. Moreover, hcg will increase in ectopic pregnancy and decrease in biochemical pregnancy.

The most obvious difference between them is that biochemical pregnancy does not involve implantation and development, while ectopic pregnancy does involve implantation and development, but the implantation site is wrong, outside the uterus. This situation is very dangerous. As the embryo continues to grow, it will rupture, which can cause acute and severe abdominal pain, repeated attacks, vaginal bleeding, and even shock. In severe cases, it can be life-threatening. Biochemical pregnancy is just a natural elimination phenomenon. The biochemical embryo will be lost along with the menstruation and will not pose a life-threatening danger. It is very common and will not affect the next pregnancy. Once the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy is confirmed, the main treatment is surgery to remove the fertilized egg. Since tubal pregnancy is the most common, if it is not handled properly, the fallopian tube may need to be removed, which will have a great impact on future conception.