Pain relief during hysterosalpingography: a national survey

Hysterosalpingography is a part of the infertility workup and can be painful. We conducted a postal survey of Obstetric and Gynaecology departments in the UK to evaluate the current clinical practice regarding the methods used to provide pain relief during hysterosalpingography. A total of 166 questionnaires were sent and 104 responses were received. Hysterosalpingography was offered by 93.3% of respondents. Respondents reported a wide variation in clinical practice with regards to the timing and the nature of analgesia used. Interestingly, 38% of respondents did not use analgesia at all. This variation in clinical practice may reflect the sparsity of evidence contained within the literature.