Introduction: To evaluate the methodological quality of diagnosis and treatment guidelines/consensus related to ectopic pregnancy.
Materials and methods: Use the “Appraisal of Guidelines and Research and Evaluation” (AGREE II) method to evaluate the differences among the guideline/consensus.
Results: We appraised 9 clinical practice guidelines for ectopic pregnancy (9 clinical practice guidelines from 5 countries) including the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, and China. The guidelines received the highest scores for clarity of presentation (82.72%) and lowest scores for editorial independence (30.56%). The comprehensive recommendations of the 7 guidelines were Grade B, the other 2 guidelines were Grade C.
Conclusion: The overall quality of the ectopic pregnancy guidelines had room for improvement. It is recommended to supplement and improve the four fields of “independence”, “rigor”, “participants” and “application”, especially the “independence” and “application” fields.
Keywords: guidelines, ectopic pregnancy, pelvic pain, AGREE II, clinical practice