Late Abdominal Pregnancies (≥20 Weeks Gestation): A Review from 1965 to 2012

Combined uterine injury and high rectal perforation complicating abdominal ectopic pregnancy: A case report

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE

Abdominal pregnancy is a rare and potentially fatal variant of ectopic pregnancy, presenting unique clinical challenges. This report discusses an unusual case of abdominal pregnancy associated with uterine and high rectal perforations, complications that are rarely reported in clinical practice.

CASE PRESENTATION

We report a case involving a 31-year-old woman from a rural area, with a psychiatric history, presenting severe abdominal pain, vomiting, and constipation. Initial investigations revealed a hemopneumoperitoneum and a fetal skeleton in the pelvic area by CT, leading to a diagnosis of abdominal pregnancy. Surgical findings included a nonviable fetus, approximately 5 months gestational age, and perforations in both the rectum and the posterior uterine wall.

CLINICAL DISCUSSION

The patient underwent extensive surgery, including placental dissection, anterior rectal resection, Hartmann's colostomy, hysterorrhaphy, and drainage of the peritoneal cavity. The complexity of managing abdominal pregnancy, especially with additional complications such as organ perforations, poses significant surgical challenges. This case emphasizes the need to consider abdominal pregnancy in differential diagnoses of abdominal pain in women, due to the risk of misdiagnosis and complex surgical requirements.

CONCLUSION

This case highlights the critical importance of prompt diagnosis and comprehensive care in managing rare and life-threatening presentations of abdominal pregnancy. It underscores the need to increase awareness among clinicians for timely intervention and provides information on the complexities of surgical management in cases with additional organ perforations.

Laparotomy for Advanced Abdominal Ectopic Pregnancy

Background

Abdominal pregnancy is the rarest and the most serious type of extrauterine pregnancy. The mainstay of treatment for advanced abdominal pregnancy is surgery. The fetus can be delivered easily, and there are two options for the management of the placenta: removal of the placenta and leave the placenta in situ. Case Presentation. This is a 26-year-old primigravida lady who does not recall her first day of last normal menstrual period (LNMP) but claimed to be amenorrhic for the past 9 months. She had antenatal care (ANC) follow-up at a private hospital and had obstetric ultrasound two times and told that the pregnancy was normal. Currently, she presented with absent fetal movement of one week and vaginal bleeding of 3 days duration. She had history of abdominal pain with fetal movement before one week. Upon examination, the abdomen was 34 weeks sized, with easily palpable fetal parts; fetal heartbeat was negative, with mild abdominal tenderness. The cervix was closed and uneffaced. She was investigated with ultrasound which reveals 3^rd trimester abdominal ectopic pregnancy with negative fetal heartbeat. Laparotomy was done to deliver a 2000 gm female stillborn with GIII maceration from the peritoneal cavity. Placenta was removed after releasing adhesion from the bowel and omentum. She had smooth postoperative course and discharged on her 5^th postoperative day.

Conclusion

Abdominal ectopic pregnancy could be missed despite having repeated ultrasound scanning and may continue to third trimester. High index of suspicion and correlation of patient's sign and symptom is very important to make early diagnosis.

Hemoperitoneum during removal of the placenta in advanced abdominal pregnancy with live fetus delivered at 37 weeks of gestation. A case report in a low-resource setting and literature review

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE

Advanced abdominal pregnancy (> 20 weeks gestation) is a rare condition life-threatening for mother and fetus.

CASE PRESENTATION

A 31-years-old African woman presented from a rural district to Mutoyi Hospital for first gynecological evaluation after 37 weeks of amenorrhea, abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding. An ultrasound revealed an extra-uterine fetus. Laparotomy was done and a live fetus weighing 1980 g was delivered. Removal of the placenta, triggered massive bleeding (5000 mL) with shock. After re-laparotomy for post-operative ileus and hemoperitoneum, the mother and infant were discharged in good health.

CLINICAL DISCUSSION

Viable fetus can be delivered after an advanced abdominal pregnancy. Removal of the placenta is controversial. We review currently medical literature on advanced abdominal pregnancy and propose a management of the placenta in these patients.

CONCLUSION

We recommended to leave the placenta in situ, to avoid intraoperative bleeding. Placenta involution during follow-up can be revealed by ultrasound, colordoppler and β-hCG serum level decrease.

An abdominal ectopic pregnancy following a frozen-thawed ART cycle: a case report and review of the literature

Background

Ectopic pregnancy (EP) occurs in 1% of pregnancies and is reported to be more common in in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI) pregnancies. An abdominal ectopic pregnancy (AEP) is a rare form of EP, and there are few reports of an AEP after IVF/ICSI. In this case report, a rare case of AEP after frozen-thawed cycle of ICSI is presented.

Case presentation

After a frozen-thawed cycle of ICSI, the beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) level at 4 weeks 0 days of gestation was 3.4 IU/L. Subsequent dysfunctional uterine bleeding was mistaken for menstruation; however, an AEP of 9 weeks with a fetal heart beat was observed by ultrasound. After the AEP was observed by ultrasound, it was extracted laparoscopically.

Conclusion

A rare case of an AEP, which developed after frozen-thawed cycle of ICSI, presented with a very low serum HCG level. Even if the HCG titer is low, follow-up HCG levels and frequent medical examinations are necessary.