Ruptured Ectopic

This case is written by Dr. Kyla Caners. She is a PGY5 Emergency Medicine resident at McMaster University and is also one of the Editors-in-Chief here at EMSimCases.

Why it Matters

Ectopic pregnancy is a can’t miss diagnosis in Emergency Medicine. This case highlights just how sick patients with ruptured ectopic pregnancies can be. Some important learning points include:

The importance to having an approach to the undifferentiated patient with syncope and hypotension
The need to order a βHCG in women of child-bearing age who present with syncope
The rapid stabilization of a patient with intraperitoneal hemorrhage using massive transfusion.

Clinical Vignette

26 year old female presents after a syncopal episode at home. She immigrated from Cambodia two weeks ago to work as a live-in nanny, but has been feeling unwell for the last 3 days. The patient speaks limited English, but the family she is staying with said she has been vomiting the past few days and was unable to get out of bed this morning. When she tried, she because quite dizzy and then passed out.

Case Summary

26 year-old female, recently immigrated from Cambodia, presents after a syncopal episode at home. At the case outset, she complains of feeling “a little dizzy” and has a HR of 100 and a BP of 90/60. Once the team initiates care, the patient will say she has to vomit and then become poorly responsive and more hypotensive. The patient does not know that she is pregnant, so the team will have to consider the diagnosis early and use bedside U/S to point them in the right direction. The team will then need to initiate a massive transfusion and arrange for surgery. If the ectopic pregnancy is not recognized, the patient will become persistently more hypotensive until she has a PEA arrest.