ROUTINE SALINE INFUSION SONOHYSTEROGRAPHY PRIOR TO ASSISTED CONCEPTION: A REVIEW OF OUR INITIAL EXPERIENCE

Saline infusion sonohysterography has been employed to evaluate the uterine cavity prior to commencement of assisted conception.Intra-uterine lesions play an important role in the outcome of assisted conception procedures. A descriptive retrospective study of 760 patients who had saline infusion sonohysterography prior to assisted conception, between January 2008 and December, 2010. Forty-six percent of the patients had intra-uterine pathologies. Submucous fibroids accounted for almost half (48.57%) of the pathologies, followed by adhesions (28.57%) and endometrial polyps (22.86%). Complications arising from the procedure were minor and occurred in 26 patients (3.42%). Abdominal cramps, vaginal bleeding and vaginal discharge occurred in 14 (53.85%), 8 (30.77%) and 4 (15.38%) respectively. The average duration of the procedure was 6 minutes with a range of 4-9 minutes. Saline infusion sonohysterography is a reliable, cost effective and safe diagnostic tool in the evaluation of the uterine cavity prior to assisted conception.