Fallopian Tube Blockage Treatment

Typically, the causes of fallopian tube blockage are infections, diseases, or surgical complications. Often, blockage is discovered as patients are being treated for something else, because  it usually does not present symptoms. In fact, someone with blocked fallopian tubes may not even know it. Therefore we shall discuss fallopian tube blockage, what causes it, the impact of blocked tubes, how they are detected and how they are treated.

Understanding What Fallopian Tube Blockage Is

Fallopian tubes connect the ovaries to the uterus and they are the path used by eggs to travel to the uterus, as well as the location where fertilization occurs, making them crucial to natural reproduction.

Fallopian tubes can become blocked partially or fully, and it can occur in one or both tubes. This interrupts a person’s regular reproductive functions and there are many reasons why blockage happens.

What Causes Blocked Fallopian Tubes?

The most common reasons fallopian tubes get blocked are inflammation because of disease, bacterial and sexually transmitted infections, or scar tissue forming. Other blockages happen because of an ectopic-pregnancy. This is life-threatening, and emergency medical care must be sought in order to prevent death. 

Infections

Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) is an infection found in the uterus, ovaries or fallopian tubes as a result of an untreated sexually transmitted infection. Typically, when either chlamydia and gonorrhoea are left untreated, the infection spreads from the vagina into the upper reproductive system leading to blocked fallopian tubes.

Endometriosis

Endometriosis is a condition where the tissue that lines the uterus and is shed during menstruation - endometrial tissue - develops in areas outside the uterus. It may continue to grow within and around the pelvis as well. 

A person with endometriosis will have this endometrium developing around the fallopian tubes, uterus, and ovaries, as well as the spaces between the uterus and bladder or the uterus and rectum. 

In some rare cases, it could develop around the stomach, intestines, vagina, and the cervix. When endometrial tissue grows on or near the fallopian tubes, it can cause scar tissue to form over time, leading to blocked tubes.

Ectopic Pregnancy

In typical conception, fertilization occurs in the fallopian tube, then the embryo travels to the uterus and implants itself in the wall of the uterus. An ectopic pregnancy is said to occur when the embryo implants itself in the fallopian tube. 

When an embryo implants itself within the fallopian tube, as it continues to grow, it can cause the fallopian tube to rupture. This could potentially kill the pregnant person if not addressed in time. Typically, the solution is surgery which can scar the inside of the fallopian tube, leading to the blockage of the tube and even to infertility.

Surgery

Some surgeries - such as those done to remove cysts, treat endometriosis, or intervene in an ectopic pregnancy - leave scar tissue which leads to fallopian tube blockage. 

Symptoms of Blocked Fallopian Tubes

There are no symptoms associated with blocked fallopian tubes. Typically, they are discovered when a person is struggling to conceive or facing infertility. 

If infection or disease is the cause, a patient will typically have pelvic pain, menstrual irregularities, as well as other symptoms and it is during treatment for these that blockage is discovered.

Hydrosalpinx is a type of blockage caused when a previously blocked tube fills with fluid and swells. This causes mild but recurring pain on one side of the abdomen and is common when the blockage occurs near an ovary.

Fallopian Tube Blockage and Infertility

Blocked fallopian tubes are quite common. A study into this found that it is the primary cause of infertility in about 20 percent of infertility cases in women. When a fallopian tube is blocked, it prevents the egg, or embryo from reaching the uterus. It also prevents sperm from reaching the egg for fertilization. If damage to the fallopian tubes is causing infertility, it is called tubal factor infertility. 

Treatment of Fallopian Tube Blockage

Not all is lost however, as treatment is available for blocked fallopian tubes namely, surgical procedures or recanalization of the blocked tube.

Surgery

• A laparoscopic surgery enables a surgeon to gain access to the fallopian tube via a small incision made on the patient’s abdomen.
• A hysteroscopic surgery allows the surgeon to gain access to the fallopian tube through the cervix. 
• A salpingectomy typically removes the entire blocked tube, and is preferable to many because it eliminates the possibility of further complications linked to partial blockage. The other fallopian tube enables the patient to become pregnant in the future.
• A bilateral salpingectomy removes both tubes, but a person can still become pregnant through assisted reproductive treatments such as in vitro fertilization. 

Fallopian tube recanalization is not a surgical procedure. What happens is that a small catheter is inserted through the uterus, to the blocked tube, and a smaller catheter is inserted through the first one to the blocked area of the tube and unblocks it.

The procedure is done using an x-ray camera and monitor, and a liquid dye is injected into the uterus to create the necessary contrast. This procedure has a 90 percent success rate, and restores normal fallopian tube functionality.

Be Keen

It is important to be vigilant when it comes to your reproductive health. Fallopian tube blockages are treatable - and in some cases reversible - without any long-term impact on one’s fertility. Additionally, assisted reproductive technology is available in cases where one wants to conceive after having  both tubes removed.

If you have further queries or want more information contact, Ivy Fertility. We offer reproductive health services in a variety of locations across the country. We are ready to assist you in  your reproductive health journey.