Ultrasound-Guided Percutaneous Management of Splenic Ectopic Pregnancy

Abstract

Splenic ectopic pregnancies are a rare cause of abdominal pain in reproductive-age women. A 21-year-old woman with worsening abdominal pain and a positive pregnancy test presented with hemoperitoneum and no intrauterine pregnancy on transvaginal ultrasound. After 2 nondiagnostic laparoscopies, a splenic pregnancy was diagnosed by computed tomography scan and abdominal ultrasound. Currently, diagnosis and treatment of splenic pregnancies involve exploratory surgery and splenectomy. We report the successful treatment of this splenic ectopic pregnancy with combined intramuscular plus ultrasound-guided percutaneous methotrexate injection, with preservation of the patient's spleen. Abdominal implantation must be considered in patients with pregnancy of unknown location, and in carefully selected patients splenic ectopic pregnancy can be successfully managed by minimally invasive methods.

Keywords: Abdominal pregnancy; Gynecology; Laparoscopy; Methotrexate; Pregnancy of unknown location.