Impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 on ectopic pregnancy management in the United Kingdom: a multicentre observational study

Objective To describe the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) on the management of women with ectopic pregnancy. Design A multicentre observational study comparing outcomes from a prospective cohort during the pandemic [COVID‐19‐ectopic pregnancy registry (CEPR)] compared with a historical pre‐pandemic cohort [non‐COVID‐19‐ectopic pregnancy registry (NCEPR)]. Setting Five London university hospitals. Population and methods Consecutive patients diagnosed clinically and/or radiologically with ectopic pregnancy (March 2020–August 2020) were entered into the CEPR and results were compared with the NCEPR cohort (January 2019–June 2019). An adjusted analysis was performed for potentially confounding variables. Main outcome measures Patient demographics, management (expectant, medical and surgical), length of treatment, number of hospital visits (non‐surgical management), length of stay (surgical management) and 30‐day complications. Results Three hundred and forty‐one women met the inclusion criteria: 162 CEPR and 179 NCEPR. A significantly lower percentage of women underwent surgical management versus non‐surgical management in the CEPR versus NCEPR (58.6%; 95/162 versus 72.6%; 130/179; P = 0.007). Among patients managed with expectant management, the CEPR had a significantly lower mean number of hospital visits compared with NCEPR (3.0, interquartile range [IQR] [3, 5] versus 9.0, [5, 14]; P =
Tweetable abstract A higher rate of non‐surgical management of ectopic pregnancy during the COVID‐19 pandemic did not increase complication rates.