Acupuncture increases the success rates of IVF and ICSI cycles

Most couples are advised to try in vitro fertilisation (IVF). IVF was originally designed for women with absent, blocked or damaged fallopian tubes. However, today it is used for a variety of other fertility problems.

The success rates of IVF are below 50%, depending on the age of the woman. This is because the underlying gynaecological problems haven’t been treated before an IVF cycle is started. Therefore, treating the underlying problems before starting an IVF cycle increases the success rates and reduces the risk of complications later on, for example miscarriages or foetal growth rate problems.

IVF is essential a numbers game. Ideally, an IVF cycle will want to produce around a dozen good quality eggs at retrieval. Some of my patients retrieved more eggs than this, but it's not a good thing.

More than a dozen will dilute the quality of the eggs, as there is only so much energy and blood to go around, like spreading butter thinly on a large piece of toast. Also more than a dozen eggs could lead to hyperstimulation (OHSS), which is a serious problem. Less than a dozen collected generally means a physical deficiency of some type, i.e. blood, yin, jing or qi.

The day an egg is put back in can affect the success of the IVF cycle. Generally a fertilised egg is put back in from 1-5 days. Around 30% of eggs on day 3 on't live to day 5, so transferring a day 5 fertilised embryo, a blastocyst, greatly improves success rates, as it's stronger and more likely to implant.

Having 9 sessions of acupuncture before IVF and then on the day of the transfer has been shown to increase the success rates of IVF by up to 50%! Acupuncture has also been shown to improve male fertility by improving sperm quality, thereby benefiting IVF when intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is used.

References

Anderson, et al. (2007) In vitro fertilization and acupuncture: clinical efficacy and mechanistic basis. Altern Ther Health Med; 13(3):38-48.

Balk, et al. (2010) The relationship between perceived stress, acupuncture, and pregnancy rates among IVF patients: A pilot study. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 16, 154–157.

Benson, et al. (2006) Impact of acupuncture before and after embryo transfer on the outcome of in vitro fertilization cycles: A prospective single blind randomized study. Fertility and Sterility, Vol. 86, Issue 3, S135.

Cheong et al. (2008) Acupuncture and assisted conception. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 4. Art. No.: CD006920.

Dieterle, et al. (2006) Effect of acupuncture on the outcome of in vitro fertilization and intracytoplasmic sperm injection: a randomized, prospective, controlled clinical study. Fertility and Sterility Vol. 85, No. 5.

Domar, et al. (2009) The impact of acupuncture on in vitro fertilization outcome. Fertil Steril; 91: 723-6.

Guo et al. (2014) Effects of Chinese herbs combined with in vitro fertilization and embryo transplantation on infertility: a clinicalr andomized controlled trial. J Tradit Chin Med; 34(3): 267-273.

Huang, et al. (2008) The role of acupuncture in the management of subfertility. Fertil Steril; 90:1–1.

Isoyama et al. (2013) Influence of acupuncture on the outcomes of in vitro fertilisation when embryo implantation has failed: a prospective randomised controlled clinical trial. Acupunct Med; 31:157–161.

Jo, et al. (2017). Effectiveness of acupuncture in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome undergoing in vitro fertilisation or intracytoplasmic sperm injection: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Acupunct Med.

Kong et al. (2009) Acupuncture as an adjunct to in vitro fertilization: A randomized trial. Medical Acupuncture; 21: 179-82.