Reproductive outcome in patients treated by oral methotrexate or laparoscopic salpingotomy for the management of tubal ectopic pregnancy

OBJECTIVE: To determine the reproductive outcome of women who have received methotrexate or been treated by laparoscopic salpingotomy (LS) for ectopic tubal pregnancy. STUDY DESIGN: The study consisted of 123 participants, all women with tubal pregnancies, who had been treated either by methotrexate per os or by laparoscopic salpingotomy. The reproductive outcome of these women was estimated after a follow-up time-period of ten years. RESULTS: In the methotrexate group, consisting of 34 women, the fertility rate was 82% with a mean interval time to conceive of 9.4 months after the treatment. In the group treated by LS, consisting of 89 women, the fertility rate was 82.6% and the mean interval time to conceive was 11.7 months. CONCLUSION: The reproductive outcome of the women who received either per os treatment of methotrexate or LS for tubal pregnancy, remains high. Both therapeutic methods constitute reliable solutions for managing ectopic pregnancy.