How Our Fertility Clinic Diagnoses Blocked Fallopian Tubes

The fallopian tubes are incredibly thin and delicate structures, with tiny little hair-like projections inside the tubes. They can very easily become blocked or damaged, causing infertility, or the inability to fall pregnant naturally.

That is because these fine, fragile tubes are absolutely crucial for a natural conception – it is in the fallopian tube where the sperm and the egg meet for possible fertilisation. If the fallopian tube is blocked, the sperm and the egg cannot meet, and pregnancy is not possible naturally.

The fallopian tubes can be blocked if debris of some kind gets inside the tube. Similarly, there could be some slough or some tissue that is blocking the tube. Another possible cause of a blocked fallopian tube is an embryo (fertilised egg) that got stuck in the tube instead of moving down to the uterus, called an ectopic pregnancy.

The fallopian tubes may also be damaged or swollen, or there could be damage to the actual structure of the tube preventing it from moving around freely or from moving the egg or embryo successfully along the tube.

Fortunately, blocked or damaged fallopian tubes do not mean you can’t have a baby, but it does mean that you will need medical treatment to help you conceive. For the right treatment to be provided, you need an accurate diagnosis.

How blocked fallopian tubes are diagnosed

Thanks to ongoing advances in technology, there are now improved methods of investigating possible structural issues – such as blocked fallopian tubes – that could be the cause of infertility in the female partner of an infertile couple.

At Cape Fertility, we take great care to ensure our patients benefit from our ongoing investment in state-of-the-art technology, such as minimally invasive surgery and the latest in high-resolution ultrasounds, which allow us to conduct many procedures right in our offices.

During a recent interview with Fertility Solutions, our own Dr Sulaiman Heylen, director of Cape Fertility in Cape Town, and one of the best-known reproductive medicine specialists in the country, provided an insightful look into these advances, which we share below.

The traditional approach

In the past, for example, a CT scan was done to provide fertility specialists with a visual of the uterus and the ovaries. This would confirm that the ovaries were both there, and not obstructed in its important movements by issues such as endometriosis, or damaged in some way.

Today, high resolution transvaginal ultrasound allows specialists to see the uterus and ovaries as well as they would with the CT scan, and so in most cases, the CT scan is not necessary anymore.

Of course, neither the CT scan or the ultrasound can show the inside of the fallopian tubes or the uterus, so other methods are required to investigate the possibility of blocked fallopian tubes as the cause of infertility.

Since the interior of the uterus and of the fallopian tubes are not visible on ultrasounds, other methods are used to visualise these crucially important areas.

In the past, a laparoscopy – which is minimally invasive surgery – was often a first option used to diagnose blocked fallopian tubes. It was effective, but also quite invasive just for a diagnosis.

Fortunately, there are other better techniques now so, at Cape Fertility, we don’t do diagnostic laparoscopies for infertility anymore.

But we still use this minimally invasive surgery or laparoscopy to treat specific fertility problems, such as tubal surgery to unblock the fallopian tubes, or to remove endometriosis or fibroids.

However, at Cape Fertility, surgery is only considered if absolutely necessary and only after a thorough review of your medical history, including previous surgeries, infections, injuries and illnesses, as well as how long you have been trying to fall pregnant, among many other issues.

When it is necessary, however, we offer our patients minimally invasive surgery or keyhole surgery like laparoscopy, which involves only tiny little one centimetre cuts – or keyholes – on the lower part of the stomach.

The other diagnostic option for blocked fallopian tubes, traditionally, is a hysterosalpingography, or HSG. This is an x-ray examination of the uterus and fallopian tubes using a special form of low dose x-ray called fluoroscopy and an iodine dye that is visible to x-rays.

This dye is inserted into the uterus through a thin tube that is threaded through the vagina and cervix. The dye spreads, making it is easy to see on the X-ray test the outline of the internal shape of the uterus and the fallopian tubes, and whether the dye moves through the fallopian tubes unobstructed.

If it does not, there is a blockage – and this same blockage will also prevent the egg and the sperm from moving through the fallopian tubes to meet, resulting in infertility.
While this is a very effective method for diagnosing structural issues inside the uterus and fallopian tubes, it is very painful for some women.

Newer technology

Fortunately, thanks to technology advances, we now have access to newer technology – including the high-resolution ultrasounds mentioned – that enable us to use a much gentler contrast dye during the procedure. This means that the tests are no longer painful.

It also means that we can do the test ourselves here at our advanced and purpose-built fertility clinic using the high-resolution ultrasounds, so you do not also have to visit a radiologist for an X-ray.

Treatment for blocked fallopian tubes

Should these investigations reveal problems with your fallopian tubes, don’t despair. As we mentioned before, blocked fallopian tubes do not mean you can’t have a baby, but it does mean that you will need medical treatment to help you conceive.

Fortunately, there are a number of highly effective treatments for blocked or damaged fallopian tubes, most notably fallopian tube surgery and In Vitro Fertilisation or IVF, a highly effective fertility treatment that was originally created especially for women with blocked or damaged fallopian tubes.

Basically, the IVF process bypasses the fallopian tubes to achieve a pregnancy. Very simply stated, during IVF, the female partner’s eggs are collected and fertilised with sperm in a laboratory, and the embryo is then implanted into the uterus.

Your fertility specialist will be able to recommend the right treatment appropriate to your unique fertility challenges.

Your next step

Your first step to getting a fallopian tube investigation done, is simply to contact us by clicking here…

At Cape Fertility, we value each individual patient and we look forward to providing you with individualised and personalised care, affordable quality fertility treatment, and higher success rates at our purpose-built premises in the beautiful city of Cape Town.