A Text-book of Diseases of WomenPenrose, Charles B. (Charles Bingham)
Science
A Text-book of Diseases of Women
Penrose, Charles B. (Charles Bingham)
Women -- Diseases
Unless the ovum plugs the rent in the tube, there is nothing to arrest
the hemorrhage.
The woman is seized with sudden pain in the side, often described as
the sensation of “something giving away.” She suffers from faintness,
acute anemia, nausea, vomiting, and collapse. As in other cases of
acute anemia, there may be delirium and convulsions.
Bimanual examination made after intraperitoneal rupture reveals an
indefinite fulness or a yielding mass in the pelvis behind the uterus.
The blood free in the peritoneal cavity coagulates slowly, and the
fluid blood or soft unrestrained clots are often very difficult to
palpate. For this reason, at first the examiner can feel only an
ill-defined fulness in the pelvis. If the woman survives and the mass
of blood becomes more solid, it may then be distinctly palpated as a
solid mass behind the uterus, bulging into the vagina, and extending up
into the abdomen. Though the hematocele may at first be difficult to
define, yet the enlarged tube may usually be palpated, and the ovum may
sometimes be felt in the midst of the ill-defined mass of blood.
As has already been said, in rare cases rupture may occur
intraperitoneally or into the broad ligament without producing any of
the severe symptoms just described. The fetus continues to develop, and
the woman will be ignorant that rupture has ever occurred. Between the
two extremes there are all degrees of severity.
In tubal abortion the symptoms resemble those of intraperitoneal
rupture.
If the fetus dies within the tube, the symptoms become those of
hematosalpinx or other form of tubal disease.
=Diagnosis.=--The diagnosis of tubal pregnancy is not often made before
rupture, because there are usually no symptoms that direct the woman’s
attention to the abnormality of her condition. Very often she thinks
that she is normally pregnant.
If opportunity is given for examination before rupture, the diagnosis
may sometimes be made. The woman presents the signs of pregnancy. The
uterus may be slightly enlarged, though not of the size or shape normal
for the stage of pregnancy. There is a soft tubal tumor.
Immediately after rupture the diagnosis of the condition must be made
from a study of the previous history, from the present subjective
symptoms, and by bimanual examination.
If a woman who had thought herself pregnant is suddenly seized with
pain in the side, followed by anemia and shock, the suspicion of
extra-uterine pregnancy should be aroused. If bimanual examination
reveals the hematoma or hematocele in the pelvis, with tubal
enlargement, the diagnosis may be made. Pelvic hematoma and hematocele
are in nearly all cases caused by tubal pregnancy.
If the woman survives the rupture and the fetus continues to develop,
the diagnosis becomes easier the more advanced is the case.
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