Can ectopic pregnancy be detected by ultrasound?

A normal pregnancy occurs in a woman's uterus, but symptoms of pregnancy occurring outside the uterus are called ectopic pregnancy. Ectopic pregnancy can cause a lot of harm to a woman's body. If not treated in time, it can be life-threatening. Nowadays, there are more and more ways for women to rule out ectopic pregnancy, generally HCG testing and B-ultrasound. So can color ultrasound detect ectopic pregnancy?

Can color Doppler ultrasound detect ectopic pregnancy?

In a normal pregnancy, the fertilized egg implants in the uterine cavity, which is called intrauterine pregnancy. The most common site of ectopic pregnancy is the fallopian tube, and a few can also be seen in the ovaries, cervix, etc. It means that the embryo does not implant in the uterus, but develops in other parts, and then the fallopian tube ruptures, causing heavy bleeding. This disease is very life-threatening to the mother. The most common causes of ectopic pregnancy are salpingitis and adhesions, such as chronic salpingitis, tuberculosis, endometriosis, etc. Early symptoms of ectopic pregnancy include abdominal pain, amenorrhea, vaginal bleeding, syncope and shock, as well as nausea, vomiting, frequent urination and other symptoms. If a woman experiences several of the above symptoms at the same time after becoming pregnant, she should suspect an ectopic pregnancy and go to the hospital for examination and treatment as soon as possible.

Once an ectopic pregnancy is diagnosed, the patient needs to terminate the pregnancy. It should be noted that ectopic pregnancy cannot be detected using early pregnancy test strips. Early pregnancy test strips determine whether pregnancy occurs by detecting the hCG content in the human body, but they cannot determine the location and implantation status of the fertilized egg. When a woman has an ectopic pregnancy, the pregnancy test will be positive. So, can color ultrasound detect ectopic pregnancy? Ectopic pregnancy can be diagnosed with the help of hCG measurement, progesterone measurement, B-ultrasound diagnosis, laparoscopy, and posterior vaginal fornix puncture. Combining blood hCG measurement with ultrasound examination is very helpful in the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy. When blood hCG>2000IU/L and no intrauterine gestational sac is seen by vaginal ultrasound, the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy is basically established.

Prevention of ectopic pregnancy

If women want to prevent ectopic pregnancy, they must quit smoking and drinking and maintain good living habits to keep their bodies in the best condition. In addition, the following points need to be noted:

1. Pay attention to pre-pregnancy check-ups and get pregnant after curing gynecological diseases. To prevent ectopic pregnancy, attention should be paid to pre-pregnancy check-ups and all kinds of gynecological diseases should be thoroughly eliminated, especially women with problems with fallopian tubes should not be careless. For some women who have difficulty conceiving normally, if they need to take ovulation drugs, they must do so under the guidance of a doctor, and be vigilant and go to the hospital regularly to check the status of the embryo after pregnancy.

2. Pregnant women with a history of ectopic pregnancy need to undergo early pregnancy testing. Women who have had an ectopic pregnancy are at high risk of having another ectopic pregnancy. If such women become pregnant, it is best to go to the hospital for a comprehensive early pregnancy test within 6 weeks after menopause.

3. Women who have no plans to get pregnant need to take good contraceptive measures to avoid multiple abortions that may harm the reproductive system. Repeated induced abortion is the main factor leading to the increasing incidence of ectopic pregnancy in recent years. Therefore, if there is no plan to get pregnant, women should take good contraceptive measures to prevent abortion from causing harm to the body and increasing the risk of ectopic pregnancy.