Low-dose aspirin prophylaxis to prevent hypertensive disorders of pregnancy after in vitro fertilisation: a scoping review protocol

Abstract

Introduction Pregnancies resulting from in vitro fertilisation are associated with an increased risk of developing hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, such as preeclampsia, when compared with naturally conceived pregnancies.Objective The efficacy of aspirin prophylaxis to reduce the incidence of preeclampsia is well established in naturally conceived pregnancies identified as high risk for developing preeclampsia. However, the efficacy of aspirin to reduce the rate of preeclampsia for all pregnancies resulting from in vitro fertilisation remains uncertain, although in vitro fertilisation conception is a well-known risk factor for preeclampsia. Therefore, the purpose of this scoping review is to provide a comprehensive overview of the current literature regarding the use of low-dose aspirin to prevent hypertensive disorders of pregnancy after in vitro fertilisation.Inclusion criteria This review will identify all peer-reviewed published articles including pregnant women who underwent embryo transfer after in vitro fertilisation and were prescribed low-dose aspirin to reduce the risk of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.Methods We have devised a comprehensive search strategy to systematically identify pertinent studies published from January 2000 until May 2024, within the Medline (PubMed interface), Embase and Scopus databases. The search strategy is based on the keywords ‘aspirin,’ ‘pregnancy-induced hypertension,’ and (‘in vitro fertilization’ OR ‘oocyte donation’ OR ‘embryo transfer’ OR ‘donor conception’). Two reviewers will independently screen the titles, abstracts and full-text articles to select the relevant articles, using the Covidence software.Ethics and dissemination No patients are involved in this study. This study aims to be published in a peer-reviewed journal and could be presented at a conference.