Tubal flushing effect of hysteroscopic patency test

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Tubal flushing effect is a published phenomena of hysterosalpingography in connection with tubal patency test. The aim of the study was to evaluate the flushing effect of the outpatient method: selective chromopertubation via office hysteroscopy (OHSC-SPT), and compare it to that of HSG. Materials and methods Sixty infertile patients receiving OHSC-SPT (mean [SD] age: 34.1 [3.2] years) and 163 receiving HSG (32.7 [4.7] years) took part in the study. As part of the infertility work-up, diagnostic office hysteroscopy was performed to evaluate the uterine cavity. Patients with at least one patent tube had a 12-month follow-up, during which their obstetrical events, including successful conception of pregnancy after a sterile period, were recorded. The between-groups comparison was quantified by calculating a pregnancy proportion ratio. Results Out of the 60 OHSC-SPT subjects, both tubes were blocked in 24 cases, and at least one of the tubes was patent in 36 cases. Out of these 36 cases, 7 (19.4%) spontaneous pregnancies were conceived; in three (8.3%) cases, pregnancy was conceived after intrauterine insemination (IUI) performed on male indication. The number of pregnancies observed in the HSG group (163 examined subjects) was 37 (32 spontaneous, 5 IUI-assisted) out of 153 followed-up subjects (24.4%). The pregnancy proportion ratio estimate was 1.15 (90% CI: 0.70–1.90; p = 0.671). Conclusions The novel method of OHSC-SPT has a tubal flushing effect that is non-inferior to that observed with HSG.