Comparison of physiological-ICSI (PICSI) with ICSI in cases of moderate to severe oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (OAT) − a randomized control study

Abstract

Objective: To compare the efficiency of physiological intracytoplasmic sperm injection (PICSI) over intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in Oligoasthenoteratozoospermic patients. Design: Randomized control study. Setting: KJIVF and laparoscopy center Delhi. Methods: From September 2019 to May 2020, 45 patients of male factor felled under our criteria of OAT were divided into two groups of PICSI and ICSI. Sperm selection was performed under high magnification in both the groups and results were compared. Outcome measure: Primary outcome: Fertilization rate, cleavage rate, blastulation, and utility rate; Secondary outcome: Clinical pregnancy rates and miscarriage rates. Results: 20 PICSI and 25 ICSI treatments were performed and observed that the rate of blastulation and embryo utility shows significant difference in PICSI group (P = 0.013). The pregnancy percentage was also better in PICSI but implantation, fertilization, cleavage; clinical pregnancy rates were clinically comparable in both the groups but not statistically significant. Conclusion: The outcomes of our study are independent of male factor and it only depends on intervention whether it was PICSI or ICSI. The blastulation rate and embryo utility shows statistically significant difference between PICSI and ICSI groups. Hence, we are slowly progressing toward the superiority of PICSI over ICSI but enough evidences are still not available.