A tubular pregnancy, also known as a tubal or ectopic pregnancy, is an abnormal pregnancy in which the egg does not successfully reach the uterus and instead implants in the woman’s fallopian tube. Since the symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy are just about the same as they for a viable pregnancy, at least in the beginning, the fact that the pregnancy is ectopic may not be discovered until the mother has a problem and seeks the advice of her doctor or goes to the emergency room. For the most part, the first symptom of the pregnancy being tubular is pain in the abdomen. Most often, the pain is mostly on one side and can be quite severe. It is often described as sharp or shooting and it may come and go.
Diagnosing an Ectopic Pregnancy
If you are pregnant and go to the doctor or hospital complaining of abdominal pain, the doctor will almost always give you tests to determine if your pregnancy is ectopic or normal.
Usually, the tests will include a pelvic exam, both external and internal. The doctor will look for unusual qualities and will check to see if your uterus looks to be the proper size for the baby’s length of gestation. If the uterus appears smaller than expected, that is an indicator that the egg may be growing elsewhere.
Another test you may be given is a test that measures the amount of HCG in your system. HCG is sometimes known as the “pregnancy hormone” and many home pregnancy tests check for this hormone; if your levels are higher than they are for a non-pregnant woman, he test gives a positive result. As your pregnancy gets farther along, the amount of HCG in the bloodstream increases, but with an ectopic pregnancy, there may be less HCG than there is in a uterine (normal) pregnancy, so lower-than-expected HCG levels is another possible indication of a tubular pregnancy.
In addition to those tests, you will likely have an ultrasound done. That test uses sound waves to check for pregnancy or masses in the abdomen. Ultrasounds are reliable tests, and they are commonly done on most pregnant women at some point in the pregnancy. However, not every ectopic pregnancy may be detected by an ultrasound, particularly if you are less than six weeks along. At that point, the egg is still quite small, and as such may not be detectable. If you are less than six weeks along and are complaining of pain that cannot be explained in some other way, the doctor will carefully monitor you and will most likely want to check your HCG levels very frequently.
