The impact of acupuncture on assisted reproductive technology outcome

To evaluate the impact of acupuncture on the outcome of in-vitro fertilization treatment using data from published randomized studies. The main outcome measure of interest is the clinical pregnancy rate.

Fourteen relevant trials including 2870 women were examined. Significant clinical and statistical heterogeneity were encountered among the studies. Five trials (n = 877) evaluated in-vitro fertilization outcome when acupuncture was performed around the time of oocyte retrieval and found no difference in the clinical pregnancy rate between the two groups [relative risk (RR) = 1.06, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.82-1.37, P = 0.65]. Likewise, nine trials (n = 1993) reported in-vitro fertilization outcome when acupuncture was performed around the time of embryo transfer and showed no significant difference in the clinical pregnancy rate (RR = 1.16, 95% CI 0.92-1.48, P = 0.22).

Currently available literature does not provide sufficient evidence that adjuvant acupuncture, whether performed at the time of oocyte retrieval or embryo transfer, improves in-vitro fertilization outcome. On the basis of this evidence, acupuncture should not be recommended during in-vitro fertilization to increase its success rate.