New opportunities for the evaluation of infertility

Abstract

Incidence of infertility increased in the past years and it affects 15% of couples. Female and male factors are responsible in 40% and 40% of the cases, respectively, while factors present in both females and males can be found in 20% of cases. Female factors can be further divided into organic and functional ones. Function of the female organs can be evaluated in an outpatient setting by well-developed laboratory techniques but evaluation of the uterine cavity and inspection of the tubal patency have been traditionally carried out in one-day surgery. However, the latter can be performed under ambulatory setting with the use of office hysteroscopy, so that the use of operating theatre and staff costs can be saved. Using selective pertubation for the evaluation of tubal patency via office hysteroscopy can reduce cost further. The new methods in infertility workup which can be performed in ambulatory setting have several advantages for the patients.