Acpuncture increases pregnancy rates in women undergoing IVF

The present systematic review is designed to summarize the evidence concerning the effect of acupuncture on pregnancy outcomes in vitro fertilization with embryo transfer (IVF-ET).

We searched MEDLINE, the Wanfang Database, the China Academic Journal Electronic Full-text Database in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and the Index to Chinese Periodical Literature.

Randomized controlled trials with intervention groups using acupuncture and control groups consisting of no acupuncture or sham (placebo) acupuncture in IVF-ET treatment were selected.

Study characteristics were examined from these studies and an intention-to-treat approach was used to extract outcome data from each study. In total, 31 articles including 4450 women passed our selection criteria. The legitimacy, characteristics, and IVF outcomes of the included trials were summarised.

This system review indicated that acupuncture appears to be beneficial to women with poor ovarian reserve or with previous unsuccessful attempts of IVF-ET.

Reference

Gu, Y, et al. The effects of acupuncture on pregnancy outcomes of in vitro fertilization with embryo transfer: An interdisciplinary systematic review. J Gynecol Obstet Hum Reprod. 2019 Jul 2. pii: S2468-7847(19)30149-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jogoh.2019.07.008.