Symptoms and Complications
Irregular vaginal bleeding or a missed period can be a sign of an ectopic
pregnancy, although some women with an ectopic pregnancy continue to menstruate.
Most ectopic pregnancies are discovered before the woman even knows she's pregnant.
The growing fetus can damage or rupture the tissue around the reproductive
organs, causing internal bleeding and severe pain. If the pregnancy tissue grows
too large, it may damage the walls of the fallopian tube. The bleeding that
results can be painful and create a fullness-like feeling in the abdomen. Severe
bleeding can cause a woman's blood pressure to drop to the point where she shows
symptoms of shock, including paleness, sweating, weakness, and faintness.
The ectopic pregnancy usually ruptures the wall of the fallopian tube in weeks
six to eight since the last period. An ectopic pregnancy that implants partly
in the fallopian tube and partly in the uterus usually ruptures later, between
weeks 12 and 16 of pregnancy. A woman whose fallopian tube has ruptured will
feel severe pain that comes on suddenly, and will often faint due to massive
internal bleeding in the abdomen. A rupture that occurs later in the pregnancy
is very dangerous and can lead to death.