Cervical pregnancy: 13 cases treated with suction curettage and balloon tamponade

Abstract

Objective: With no single regimen recognized as the standard for the treatment of first trimester cervical pregnancy, this report offers a successful treatment option with suction curettage and balloon tamponade.

Study design: This is a retrospective review, with institutional review board approval, of 13 consecutive first trimester cervical pregnancies, from 1995-2014, all treated with the same surgical technique by the author.

Results: Successful termination of thirteen consecutive first trimester cervical pregnancies, all treated with the same surgical technique: suction curettage with cervical canal balloon tamponade.

Conclusion: Cervical pregnancy is the rarest of ectopic pregnancies. Before the now common use of early pregnancy transvaginal ultrasound, cervical pregnancies were frequently diagnosed at the time of spontaneous abortion or reached the second trimester, both associated with life-threatening hemorrhage frequently requiring hysterectomy. With early transvaginal ultrasound, especially with 3 dimensional rendering, these implantations are easily identified and can successfully be terminated with a specialized suction curettage technique.

Keywords: cervical pregnancy; ectopic pregnancy; ultrasound.