Is tubal canalization an effective procedure to clear blocked fallopian tubes?

This study assessed whether tubal canalization (TC) was effective in treating blocked fallopian tubes. The study concluded that TC was a safe, effective, and minimally invasive way of unblocking fallopian tubes in certain cases.

Blocked fallopian tubes are common in women of reproductive age and can result in difficulties getting pregnant. There are a number of causes, such as pelvic inflammatory disease, endometriosis (a chronic disorder that causes pain, especially when a woman has her period), tubal spasm, and waste matter in the tube. Surgery has been the main method of correcting a blocked fallopian tube. This is invasive, however, and has had limited success. Patients typically must undergo in vitro fertilization (IVF, a procedure where the egg is fertilized outside the woman's body) afterwards.

TC is a simple outpatient method that unblocks the fallopian tubes. A tube is inserted into the falliopian tube, and a balloon is inflated to help remove the blockage. This can often be done following a procedure for diagnosing the blocked tubes. The effectiveness of this procedure among women with block fallopian tubes is still unclear. 

This study examined the records of 58 women who underwent TC following an average of two years of infertility. 63.8% of the women had both tubes blocked. The remaining 36.2% had one tube blocked. After TC, 93.1% of women had unobstructed tubes.

After 1 year,  43.4% of 53 patients treated with TC conceived either naturally, or through a fertility treatment where ovulation was stimulated and sperm then placed directly into the woman’s uterus. There were 15 live births.  

The study concluded that tubal canalization was a safe, effective, and minimally invasive procedure to treat blocked fallopian tubes in certain cases. 

The patient is exposed to very low levels of radiation for a very short time.