Laparascopy Versus Laparatomy in the Management of Ruptured Ectopic Pregnancy

A RANDOMISED TRIAL COMPARING LAPARASCOPY VERSUS LAPAROTOMY IN THE MANAGEMENT OF WOMEN DIAGNOSED WITH ECTOPIC PREGNANCY

Standard management for patients with ruptured ectopic pregnancies at our institution is treatment by laparotomy. This trail will investigate the feasibility of treatment with laparoscopy and will look at outcomes such as hospital stay and pain experienced

The hypothesis is that laparoscopy is a feasible treatment option associated with shorter hospital stay and less pain

Laparoscopic surgery for the surgical management of women diagnosed with ectopic pregnancies has become the standard of care in many institutions around the world. Laparotomy is still the standard of care at Kalafong Hospital. There is very little high quality evidence with regard to the optimal surgical management approach for women with ruptured ectopic pregnancies.

The study aims to compare laparotomy with laparoscopy in this group of women with regards to outcomes such as length of hospital stay, number of days off work and pain.

This randomised study will be conducted at Kalafong hospital, on 140 patients diagnosed with ruptured ectopic pregnancy who are haemodynamically stable and are able and willing to provide informed consent.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age >18 years
• Able to give informed consent
• must have two of the following three:
• systolic blood pressure >90 mmHg
• pulse rate <100 beats per minute
• heamoglobin >8 g/dL

Exclusion Criteria:

• <18 years
• haemodynamically unstable
• not able to give informed consent