Laparoscopic surgical treatment of ectopic pregnancy: salpingectomy or salpingostomy?

There is a widespread belief that salpingostomy is the treatment of choice for ectopic pregnancy. The ability to treat most ectopic pregnancies via a laparoscopic approach has been a major advance in gynaecological surgery. Despite the well publicized benefits of laparoscopy over laparotomy only 50% of patients with ectopic pregnancies in Australia presently benefit from this surgical advance. Although it is clear that laparoscopic treatments are preferable to laparotomy there is no consensus on whether salpingectomy or salpingostomy should be performed, despite over 40 years of research since the introduction of conservative tubal treatment. A systematic review of laparoscopic surgical treatment is needed and could be incorporated into the Cochrane Collaboration. A prospective clinical study, with long-term follow-up, needs to be performed to evaluate fertility prognosis and complications after laparoscopic salpingectomy versus salpingostomy.