Researchers at the Department of Ultrasonography at a Harbin Medical University affiliated hospital investigated clinical outcomes of unruptured ectopic pregnancy when treated with single or multiple-drug injections.
A total of 49 patients were included in the study. Twenty-three patients underwent single-drug injections and 26 patients underwent multiple-drug injections. Five of the women in the single-drug group did not respond to treatment and required surgical intervention about one-week after the single-injection treatment was administered. The remaining 18 women in the single-injection group required no additional treatment. All 26 women in the multiple-drug injection group responded well to treatment with no further treatment required.
The single-drug injection group was the only group to require surgery after treatment, so surgical outcomes were statistically significant in this group, but other significant differences between the treatment groups were also recorded. The single-drug group took longer to return to normal hCG levels and the mass resolution was slower.
Multiple-drug injection with an anti-inflammatory, methotrexate, antibiotics, and hemocoagulase decreased the chance of surgical intervention and reduced overall healing time.
Source: Dai Q, Wang LL, Shao XH, Wang SM, Dong XQ. Clinical effectiveness of multiple-drug injection treatment in unruptured ectopic pregnancies: a retrospective study. J Ultrasound Med. 2012 Oct;31(10):1627-34.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23011626
