STUDY OBJECTIVE: To compare local injection of metothrexate (MTX) and linear salpingostomy in the conservative laparoscopic treatment of ectopic pregnancy. DESIGN: Prospective, nonrandomized study, July 1991 to May 1994. SETTING: Department of obstetrics and gynecology in a university hospital. PATIENTS: Fourteen women with unruptured ectopic pregnancies without documented fetal heart motion and size below 50 mm as measured by ultrasound. INTERVENTIONS: All 14 women underwent the laparoscopic treatment by either local injection of MTX or linear salpingostomy (7 patients each). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Both treatments were successful in all patients. Mean length of operation was 32 +/- 5 minutes (range 25-35 min) in the MTX group versus 67 +/- 15 minutes (range 50-90 min) in the salpingostomy group. Mean length of hospital stay was 2.7 days (range 1-5 days) and 1.7 days (range 1-3 days), respectively. No intraoperative complications occurred, and the postoperative course was uneventful in all women. Mean disappearance time of serum beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) levels was similar in both groups, although in the linear salpingostomy group the decrease was immediate. No difference in tubal patency on follow-up hysterosalpingography was observed between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Although this is a preliminary report with a small number of patients, both types of treatment were safe and effective. An advantage of linear salpingostomy was the predictable and consistent decline of circulating beta-hCG, and consequently a reduced need for a close follow-up. Local MTX injection was safe, economic, effective, and easy to perform, and in our experience the surgical time was statistically shorter than that for linear salpingostomy. Therefore, in selected patients, local injection of MTX could be the treatment of choice for unruptured ectopic pregnancy, avoiding a longer and potentially more dangerous procedure. Long-term outcomes do not seem to differ between the two types of treatment.