In a nutshell
This study compared sperm concentration and quality with intrauterine insemination (IUI) outcomes. It found that IUI outcomes were similar for couples with high and low sperm quality.
Some background
IUI is an infertility procedure in which sperm are injected directly into the uterus. IUI is often combined with ovarian stimulation (OS), which uses medications to encourage the development of ovarian follicles.
Previous studies have focused on the OS protocol and size of the ovarian follicles prior to IUI. However, it is not well studied how sperm concentration and quality affect IUI outcomes. It is also not clear how many IUI cycles are beneficial.
Methods & findings
This study used records from 138 couples with infertility using OS-IUI. These couples underwent a total of 345 OS-IUI procedures. Each couple had between one and eight cycles of OS-IUI. The medications used for OS included clomiphene citrate (Clomid), letrozole (Femara), and gonadotropin hormones. Sperm were collected via ejaculation on the morning of the IUI procedure. Sperm were grouped into “below-average”, “average” and “above-average” according to World Health Organization categories.
There were 21 pregnancies, and 14.5% of couples became pregnant overall. 14.3% (6/42) of couples with below-average sperm parameters and 23.1% (3/13) of couples with average sperm parameters became pregnant. 14.5% (12/83) of those with above-average parameters became pregnant.
There was no relationship between sperm quality and pregnancy. There was also no relationship between sperm quality and pregnancy when looking at a specific cycle number, such as the second cycle. However, there were no pregnancies in cycles 6 – 8.
The bottom line
This study found no relationship between sperm quality and OS-IUI outcome. However, the authors recommend a maximum of 5 IUI attempts.
The fine print
This study did not control for the cause of infertility, the type of medication used, or the participants’ ages. It also did not account for the number of OS-IUI cycles that a couple used. More studies are needed.
Published By :
Scientific reports
Date :
May 05, 2020
