A comparative study of saline infused sonohysterography and conventional hysterosalpingography in the evaluation of female infertility

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Recognition of the causes of infertility, appropriate timely evaluation, and treatment with good outcome is the goal of the treating physician. Saline infused sonohysterography (SIS) is a cost-effective, safe, noninvasive, and a rapid procedure to visualize the female pelvic organs in the evaluation of infertility. The purpose of this study is to compare the diagnostic accuracy and the advantages of saline infused sonohysterography (SIS) over conventional hysterosalpingography (HSG). Materials and Methods: Thirty-five women who presented to the gynecology department between November 2005 and September 2007 for evaluation of infertility were included in the study. After taking informed consent, all the women were subjected to SIS, followed by conventional HSG on the next day. The study was conducted between 7 th and 11 th day of the menstrual cycle. Results of the two procedures were compared. Results: The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of SIS in detecting tubal patency was 94.28%, 75%, 97.05%, and 50%, respectively. SIS was found to be superior to conventional HSG in the evaluation of uterine and ovarian factors of female infertility in the present study. SIS was also found to be cost-effective and less time-consuming than conventional HSG. Interpretation and Conclusion: SIS can be used as a simple, noninvasive, cost-effective primary diagnostic tool in the evaluation of female infertility and should be used in conjunction with conventional HSG in the evaluation of tubal, cervical, uterine, and ovarian factors of infertility to avoid unnecessary invasive diagnostic procedures.