Failures following fimbriectomy: a further report

In 1977 we reported on seven patients who presented with intrauterine pregnancy in spite of previous fimbriectomy; in a detailed morphologic study one tuboperitoneal fistula was documented in each of four patients. In the present study three more patients are reported with pregnancy following fimbriectomy, and another four tuboperitoneal fistulas are morphologically investigated and their possible etiology is discussed. In spite of a failure rate of almost 2.6%, the concept about the reliability of fimbriectomy need not necessarily be condemned. This concept can be judged only if information is available both about the total number of fistulas subsequent to a certain technique and about the number of those fistulas which contributed to pregnancy.