Ultrasound guidance during embryo transfer: a prospective, single-operator, randomized, controlled trial
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Published on: March 4, 2015
Mamdoh Eskandar1, Ahmed M Abou-Setta, Mona A Almushait
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine, College of Medicine, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia. maeskandar@kku.edu.sa
Objective:
To determine whether the implementation of ultrasound (US) guidance will improve the clinical outcomes of ET compared with the standard clinical touch method of embryo catheter placement.
Design:
Prospective, single-operator, randomized, controlled trial.
Setting:
Saudi Center for Assisted Reproduction.
Patient(S):
Three hundred seventy-three women.
Intervention(S):
Transcervical, intrauterine ET with or without US guidance.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
Primary outcomes were the live-birth/ongoing pregnancy and clinical pregnancy rates per randomized woman. Secondary outcomes were the incidences of difficult transfers, blood and/or mucus on the catheter tip, spontaneous miscarriages, and ectopic pregnancies.
Result(S):
Demographics and cycle characteristics were not different between the two groups. The live-birth/ongoing pregnancy rate was significantly higher in the US ET group (68 of 183, 40.98%) than in the clinical touch ET group (50 of 190, 28.42%) (odds ratio = 1.66, 95% confidence interval 1.07-2.57). In addition, there was a significantly higher number of clinical pregnancies in the US ET group (75 of 183, 40.98%) than in the clinical touch ET group (54 of 190, 28.42%) (odds ratio = 1.75, 95% confidence interval 1.14-2.69). Secondary outcomes were not significantly different between the two groups.
Conclusion(S):
Ultrasound-guided ET significantly increases ongoing pregnancy/live-birth and clinical pregnancy rates compared with the clinical touch method.
