A Medical And Moral Look At Ectopic Pregnancy

Want to read the rest of this paper? Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay and over 50,000 other term papers

also be considered ectopic if it sits in an abnormal position in the body. A heart beat that originates from and unusual part of the heart is an “ectopic” heart beat, and a baby that is not properly nestled in the uterine cavity is an “ectopic” pregnancy.
In an ectopic pregnancy the baby can be found in various different locations. The most common is in the end of the fallopian tube. It can also settle and embed itself onto the ovary, inside the cervix, or, rarely, in the
abdominal cavity.
The symptoms are present in the first stages of pregnancy. Missed menstruation is the first sign of the pregnancy as per usual. This is followed by nausea, breast tenderness, vomiting, fatigue, and eventually a lot of
pain. The pain can be a dull ache which progresses into a sharp spasmodic pain, usually confined to either the left or the right lower quadrant in the pelvic area or generalized to the abdomen. A pregnancy test may or may not be positive depending upon how advanced the pregnancy ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays. Write better papers. Get better grades. Already a member? Login

This is done in an operating room as a surgery. If the patient does have an ectopic, the procedure is surgically treated at that time.
The two main types of treatment are chemical and surgical. Chemical treatment is done with a drug called methotrexate. It is used to literally “dissolve” the pregnancy in non-urgent cases. It can be given either through an ultrasound guided tubal injection or a single-dose intramuscular injection. A repeat hCG levels will be taken to ensure that the pregnancy is actually dissolved and that further treatment is not needed.
Surgery is usually done in cases that are further along in their pregnancy or have another medical reasonto not use the ...

Succeed in your coursework without stepping into a library. Get access to a growing library of notes, book reports, and research papers in 2 minutes or less.

CITE THIS PAGE: