TUBAL REVERSAL PREGNANCY STUDY:
A DECADE OF OBSERVATION
Pregnancy Rates By Fallopian Tube Lengths
The tubal lengths that remain after a tubal ligation affect the chances of getting pregnant after tubal ligation reversal. (The fallopian tube length before a tubal ligation is about 10 cm or 4 inches.)
Tubal segment lengths were measured routinely during reversal surgery and recorded in operative reports during our surgeries. (Tubal length measurements were not part of the electronic database at the beginning of the study interval, so the numbers in the following table are less than the total number of patients during the entire period covered by the study.) The average length of the fallopian tubes after repair was correlated with the likelihood of pregnancy after tubal repair (Table 6).
Women with longer tubal lengths were more likely to get pregnant than women with shorter tubal lengths following tubal reversal surgery. 83% of women with tubal lengths of 7.5 cm or longer became pregnant. The probability of pregnancy declined as tubal length decreased, but even women with the shortest tubes (less than 2.5 cm) became pregnant. Although previously unreported in the medical literature, a repaired fallopian tube of any length can result in pregnancy. Based on reports by women with only 1 fallopian tube, we have discovered that tubal lengths as short as 1 cm can result in a normal pregnancy.
Table 6. Pregnancies by Tubal Length (cm)
| Length | Total Women | Pregnant (Number) | Pregnant (Percent) |
| 7.5+ | 824 | 684 | 83% |
| 5.0-7.4 | 4949 | 3621 | 73% |
| 2.5-4.9 | 3114 | 1932 | 62% |
| <2.5 | 221 | 97 | 44% |
Tubal Ligation Method And Tubal Length
When tubal ligation method and average tubal length are taken into account simultaneously, the amount of fallopian tube remaining after a sterilization procedure turns out to be the more important factor predicting the success of tubal reversal surgery. The less damage that occurs to the fallopian tube during a sterilization procedure, the more remains to be able to function normally once the tube has been surgically repaired. This explains the why women with tubal clips and rings – that cause the least amount of damage – are most likely to get pregnant after tubal reversal, as shown in the previous page of this report.
The complete Tubal Reversal Pregnancy Study: A Decade of Observation can be viewed by using the following links:
