Effects of acupuncture on ovarian blood supply and pregnancy outcomes in patients receiving assisted reproduction

Abstract

To observe the effects of acupuncture at the follicular phase on ovarian blood supply and pregnancy outcomes in patients who received in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection-embry transfer (IVF/ICSI-ET) of assisted reproductive technology (ART). A total of 169 IVF/ICSI-ET female recipients from the Reproductive Center of Xiehe Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology were randomized into an observation group (57 cases), a placebo group (54 cases) and a control group (58 cases). The observation group received acupuncture during the follicular phase, meanwhile the placebo group received placebo-acupuncture, and the control group did not receive acupuncture. The hemodynamic index, biochemical pregnancy rate and clinical pregnancy rate of each group were observed, respectively. As to the ovarian arterial hemodynamic index, the pulsatility index (PI), resistance index (RI), and the systolic-to-diastolic peak velocity ratio (S/D) of the observation group were (0.819±0.131), (0.552±0.055) and (2.306±0.512), respectively, obviously lower than those in the placebo group and the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (all P 0.05). As to the biochemical pregnancy rate and clinical pregnancy rate, the biochemical pregnancy rate in the observation group was 64.9% and the clinical pregnancy rate was 52.6%, which were significantly higher than those in the placebo group and the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (all P 0.05). Acupuncture treatment during the follicular phase can improve ovarian blood supply and pregnancy rate in those receiving IVF/ICSI-ET.