Mater Dei consultant reviews delay in treating ectopic pregnancy

The head of obstetrics and gynaecology at Mater Dei Hospital is looking into a woman’s claim that her life was “needlessly put at risk” because it took two days for her to receive authorisation to use a medicine that would end her ectopic pregnancy, which can be fatal.

“The delay is not normal and the case is being looked into,” Yves Muscat Baron said.

“The patient’s life was never put at risk as she was kept under continuous surveillance. We will, however, take the opportunity to look into how the system can be improved.”

He said about one to two per cent of pregnancies are ectopic, amounting to 25-35 per year.

These cases are treated either surgically, by removing the fallopian tube, or medically by administering a medicine called methotrexate, which has been available at Mater Dei since 2018.

The use of methotrexate is still not common. There have been about four cases this year, Muscat Baron said.

“Surgical interventions impact fertility,” he said.

“There is no guarantee that methotrexate works. It may have to be repeated and, in some cases, surgery may still have to be resorted to as medical treatment may not be sufficient.”

[attach id=959558 size="large" align="left"...