Effectiveness of chromic catgut implantation in men with idiopathic infertility

Abstract

Introduction: the treatment of idiopathic male infertility is empirical and controversial. Objective: to assess the effectiveness of chromic catgut implantation at selected acupuncture points according to traditional Chinese syndromic diagnosis in men with idiopathic infertility. Methods: quasi-experimental study with pre-test-post-test and control group, in 135 patients with idiopathic infertility divided into: study group (67 treated with catgut implantation) and control group (68 treated with medication). A traditional medical history was taken and descriptive and inferential statistics were used. Results: Mean age was similar in both groups (33.90 ± 6.28 years study group and 33.68 ± 5.6 years control group). Patients with Kidney yang vacuum predominated (55.2 % study group and 52.9 % control group). Both groups showed highly significant differences in sperm concentration, motility and morphology before and after treatments and between groups. Clinical improvement (64.2 % vs. 8.8 %), spermogram normalisation (53.7 % vs. 16.2 %) and pregnancy achievement (17.9 % vs. 4.4 %) were higher in patients treated with chromic catgut implantation compared to those using Clomiphene. Conclusions: chromic catgut implantation in selected acupuncture points according to traditional Chinese syndromic diagnosis in men with idiopathic infertility is effective because it improves sperm concentration, motility and morphology, normalises the spermogram and contributes to achieving pregnancies with increased fertility, to a greater extent than treatment with Clomiphene; together with the clinical improvement of the patients.