How Does Blockage of the Fallopian Tubes Cause Female Infertility?

The fallopian tubes consist of two tubes, one on either side of the uterus, which helps the mature egg travel from the ovaries to the uterus. If a blockage stops the egg from moving down the tube, the situation is called a blocked fallopian tube. Consequently, it results in infertility in women.

In medical terms, it is also called tubal factor infertility. It is rare for women having blocked fallopian tubes to experience any kind of prior symptoms. Many women guess that their fertility is not in order when they have regular menstruation cycles. However, this may not always be true. Keep reading to know more.

Fallopian tubes bridge the ovaries with the uterus. They are the only channel that transports the matured egg produced by the ovary. After that, the fertilised egg moves from the fallopian tube to the uterus, where implantation occurs. This results in pregnancy.

If this fallopian tube becomes blocked due to any reason, fertilisation becomes impossible since sperms cannot reach the matured eggs. In short, the egg cannot move to the uterus, preventing the woman from becoming pregnant and causing female infertility.

In most cases, no major symptoms of blocked fallopian tubes appear. Many women do not even know that they suffer from blocked tubes until they are unable to get pregnant. Often, blockages in a fallopian tube can lead to various diseases such as endometriosis which causes severe pelvic pain during periods.

Moreover, it can cause ectopic pregnancy, in which a fertilised egg gets stuck and starts developing outside the uterus.

Due to its tenderness and thinness, fallopian tubes can get damaged easily. Further, fallopian tubes get blocked due to the scars caused on the tube walls through infection. Apart from infection, there are some other reasons for blocked fallopian tubes. These include:

1. Pelvic Inflammatory Disease

Pelvic inflammatory disease or PID is a type of infection that occurs inside a woman’s body if sexually transmitted diseases or other similar conditions are not treated properly. In general, it can be caused by chlamydia or gonorrhea. PID is an infection in the female reproductive system that damages the fallopian tubes, cervix, uterus, ovaries, and vagina.

If infections are not cured on time, they can affect the reproductive system adversely and lead to infertility. Apart from this, PID increases swelling in the fallopian tubes, leading to blockages.

2. Endometriosis

Endometriosis is another disease that can cause blocked fallopian tubes. It arises when the internal tissues of the uterus called endometrium begins to grow outside of it. It can also affect fallopian tubes, ovaries, and even intestines. Nevertheless, this tissue continues to expand inside the uterus and other pelvic organs, affecting the normal menstrual cycle.

Although, in case of menstruation, the internal endometrial tissue gets ejected from a woman’s body, the external endometrial tissue does not behave similarly to normal tissue. This, in turn, leads to inflammation and eventually starts damaging other tissue. Moreover, the endometriosis forming in fallopian tubes leads to a scar, causing a blockage.

3. Ectopic Pregnancy

An ectopic pregnancy occurs when a fertilised egg is implanted inside the fallopian tubes instead of the uterus. As a result, it will prevent the fertilised egg from growing normally as the fallopian tubes are thin and tender, unable to provide sufficient space for the egg to grow. This can cause the breakdown of fallopian tubes while also damaging the egg.

This can be dangerous for a woman due to severe bleeding that makes her incapable of getting pregnant. This disease is curable only if the doctor detects ectopic pregnancy in early stages.

4. Surgery

Another vital factor that can cause blocked fallopian tubes is scars from previous surgeries. This is because former surgeries, particularly for treatment of conditions like endometriosis, uterine fibroids, or other abdominal surgeries, can harm fallopian tubes.

Its main reason is that it forms too many scars inside the fallopian tubes, diminishing the capability of an egg to move through the tubes.

5. Tubal Ligation

Tubal ligation is another surgery that can lead to blockage in fallopian tubes. This occurs when a woman arranges to have her fallopian tubes surgically blocked as a means of contraception.

Following are the warning signs of blocked fallopian tubes:

• Pain during intercourse
• Pelvic pain
• Vaginal discharge

However, in some highly critical cases, symptoms in a blocked fallopian tube can even include:

• Nausea and vomiting
• High fever
• Acute abdominal pain

Several surgeries can heal damaged fallopian tubes. If you suffer from blockages in fallopian tubes, a surgeon needs to eliminate the damaged portion and reattach the healthy parts.

Some of the popular treatments for blocked fallopian tubes methods are listed below:

1. Laparoscopic surgery

If there is a blockage in your fallopian tubes due to damaged tissues, your doctor has to perform laparoscopic surgery to eliminate those blockages and re-open the tubes. Also, if the reconnection between the tubes and ovaries is successful, there is a good chance of getting pregnant after surgery.

2. In Vitro Fertilization

IVF treatment requires women to take fertility medications to stimulate the ovaries. Further, the doctor uses an ultrasound-backed needle via the vaginal wall to retrieve the eggs from the ovaries. Then, the eggs are combined with the male partner’s sperm in the test lab.

3. Tubal Ligation Reversal

Many women consider tubal ligation surgery a permanent solution to birth control in which a surgeon ties up or removes a section of the tubes. The objective is to block the fallopian tubes internally so that sperm fails to reach the egg.

If you regret having a tubal ligation earlier that stops you from becoming pregnant, your doctor can again fix the fallopian tube and help you avoid infertility through a surgical reversal of tubal ligation.

A woman suffering from blocked fallopian tubes can still get pregnant. However, the chances of succeeding rely on the nature of the blockage or if she has gone through any treatment. Couples having fertility issues can take the help of various updated technologies available today to assist in conception.