Assessment of Methotrexate Efficacy in The Treatment of Ectopic Pregnancy

Abstract

Aim:Our aim in this study was to assess efficacy of single-dose methotrexate (MTX) as medical treatment for ectopic pregnancy (EP) by evaluating the results of patients given this treatment.Materials and Methods:Between September 2016 and August 2017, the treatment outcomes of EP cases treated with MTX at Gazi Yaşargil Training and Research Hospital of Health Sciences University were evaluated retrospectively.Results:In total, 126 cases treated for EP were evaluated and 65 cases were included in the study. In cases administered a single dose of MTX, the success rate was 80%, the failure rate was 13.8%, and the emergency surgery rate was 6.2%. The overall success rate of the medical treatment was 90.7% for a second dose of MTX. An unsuccessful result was considered as less than a 15% reduction in the beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG) level between 4 and 7 days after single dose MTX administration. In all cases, the rate of emergency surgery after treatment was 9.3%.Conclusions:In our study, success rates in patients with EP treated with MTX were 80% after a single dose and as high as 90.7% when a second dose was added.

Keywords

• ectopic pregnancy
• medical treatment
• methotrexate efficacy
• success rate