Do Women over 35 Years Old Who Have Undergone a Myomectomy Require More Acupuncture Sessions to Become Pregnant?

Abstract

Background To evaluate whether ≥ 3 adjunct acupuncture sessions accompanying embryo transfer, increasesthe chance of pregnancy amongst post-myomectomy women aged ≥ 35 years. Methods This was a prospective study carried out at Nordica Fertility Center. Following written informed consent, 75 patients undergoing assisted reproduction therapy and who had good quality embryos, were age-matched and grouped into post-myomectomy (n = 24) and normal women who had no evidence of fibroidsor previous myomectomy (n = 51). Between 1 and 3 sessions of acupuncture were performed on 6 post-myomectomy and 19 infertile women who had not undergone myomectomy, while > 3 acupuncture sessions were performed on 18 post-myomectomy and on 32 normal patients, approximately 25 minutes before and after embryo transfer. Results A positive pregnancy test was defined as ultrasonographic evidence indicating presence of a fetal sac 6 weeks after embryo transfer. Of the 5 post-myomectomy women who were pregnant, only 1 (20.0%) received 1-3 adjunct acupuncture sessions whilst the remaining 4 (80.0%) received > 3 acupuncture sessions. Of the 11 normal pregnant women, 5 (45.4%) received 1-3 adjunct acupuncture sessions while 6 (54.5%) received > 3 adjunct acupuncture sessions. Conclusions Pregnancy rates in infertile post-myomectomy women may be improved by > 3 adjunct acupuncture sessions.

Keywords

• acupuncture
• infertility
• myomectomy
• Nigeria
• pregnancy rate