Open cornual resection versus laparoscopic cornual resection in patients with interstitial ectopic pregnancies

To compare laparotomy and laparoscopic management of interstitial ectopic pregnancies.

The medical records of 109 patients diagnosed with interstitial ectopic pregnancies at the Korea University Medical Center, the Republic of South Korea, between January 1998 and October 2009 were reviewed retrospectively. Eighty-eight women were treated by open cornual resection or laparoscopic cornual resection. A case-controlled study was performed. The outcomes were operative time, length of hospital stay, estimated blood loss, blood transfusion, and complication. Nominal variables were analyzed by the Fisher's exact test or the χ(2) test.

The frequency of cornual ectopic pregnancies was 4.31% at this medical center. In patients with a cornual resection, primary laparotomy was performed in 49 women and laparoscopy was performed in 39 women. Laparoscopy was converted to laparotomy in five patients. There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups for the mean operation time, estimated blood loss, blood loss of more than 1000 mL, blood transfusion requirements, and complications. The mean number of postoperative hospital days was shorter in the laparoscopy group than in the laparotomy group (4.53 ± 1.44 days versus 5.89 ± 1.86 days, respectively; P<0.001).

Laparoscopic cornual resection is a safe and less invasive procedure with a reasonable complication rate and shorter hospital stay.