Guidance
This guideline covers diagnosing and managing ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage in women with complications, such as pain and bleeding, in early pregnancy (that is, up to 13 completed weeks of pregnancy). It aims to improve how early pregnancy loss is diagnosed and managed to reduce the incidence of the associated psychological morbidity and improve the support women are given.
Recommendations
This guideline includes recommendations on:
- support and information giving
- early pregnancy assessment services
- symptoms and signs of ectopic pregnancy
- diagnosis of viable intrauterine pregnancy and ectopic pregnancy
- management of miscarriage
- management of ectopic pregnancy
Who is it for?
- Healthcare professionals
- Commissioners
- Women with complications in early pregnancy (up to 13 completed weeks of pregnancy), their families and carers
Is this guideline up to date?
We checked this guideline in February 2017 and we are partially updating this guideline. The update will focus on the accuracy of ultrasound for diagnosing ectopic pregnancy. We will also extend the scope to cover expectant management for ectopic pregnancy. See the guideline in development page for progress on the update.
Guideline development process
How we develop NICE guidelines
This guideline was previously called ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage: diagnosis and initial management in early pregnancy of ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage.
Your responsibility
The recommendations in this guideline represent the view of NICE, arrived at after careful consideration of the evidence available. When exercising their judgement, professionals are expected to take this guideline fully into account, alongside the individual needs, preferences and values of their patients or service users. The application of the recommendations in this guideline is not mandatory and the guideline does not override the responsibility of healthcare professionals to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of the individual patient, in consultation with the patient and/or their carer or guardian.
Local commissioners and/or providers have a responsibility to enable the guideline to be applied when individual health professionals and their patients or service users wish to use it. They should do so in the context of local and national priorities for funding and developing services, and in light of their duties to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, to advance equality of opportunity and to reduce health inequalities. Nothing in this guideline should be interpreted in a way that would be inconsistent with compliance with those duties.
Commissioners and providers have a responsibility to promote an environmentally sustainable health and care system and should assess and reduce the environmental impact of implementing NICE recommendations wherever possible.