What are the early signs of an ectopic pregnancy??
Early symptoms are either absent or subtle. Clinical presentation of ectopic pregnancy occurs at a mean of 7.2 weeks after the last normal menstrual period, with a range of 5 to 8 weeks. Later presentations are more common in communities deprived of modern diagnostic ability. The early signs are: * Pain and discomfort, usually mild. A corpus luteum on the ovary in a normal pregnancy may give very similar symptoms. * Vaginal bleeding, usually mild. An ectopic pregnancy is usually a failing pregnancy and falling levels of progesterone from the corpus luteum on the ovary cause withdrawal bleeding. This can be indistinguishable from an early miscarraige or the ‘implantation bleed’ of a normal early pregnancy. Patients with a late ectopic pregnancy typically have pain and bleeding. This bleeding will be both vaginal and internal and has two discrete pathophysiologic mechanisms. – External bleeding is due to the falling progesterone levels. – Internal bleeding is due to hemorrhage from the a
