The effect of acupuncture on egg quality of women with a poor response to IVF treatment

The effect of acupuncture on ovarian blood flow and follicular health among "In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) poor responders": a pilot study

Status

Terminated

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ANZCTR

Registry ID

ACTRN12609000326291

Enrollment

Registered

2009-05-21

Start date

2009-02-15

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2020-01-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

None listed

Brief summary

Women who respond poorly to ovarian stimulation in an IVF cycle have been shown to have compromised blood flow to their ovarian follicles when compared to women with normal ovarian responses. Research suggests acupuncture may exert a sympatho-inhibitory effect reducing uterine artery impedance and thereby increase ovarian blood flow and subsequently follicular health among women with poor response to IVF treatment. The pilot study will recruit 20 women with a history of poor response to IVF. The methodology with involve experimental design with subjects acting as their own self control. The study will include an initial baseline measurement of study outcomes during a normal IVF cycle, and secondly, an acupuncture intervention, followed by measurement of outcomes of oocyte retrieval. The acupuncture diagnosis and treatment will follow an algorithm, and three acupuncture treatments will be administered prior to egg retrieval. The effects of blood flow and the follicle will be assessed by changes from baseline to egg retrieval, as measured by: peri-follicular blood flow, levels of follicular fluid VEGF, and level of follicular fluid anti-mullerian hormone.

Interventions

Acupuncture will be administered to lower abdomen, arms, hands, lower legs and feet. Participants will receive 3 acupuncture treatments over the IVF cycle - day 2, day 7 and on the day of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) administration. Each treatment is 40 minutes in duration. The women first undergo IVF without having acupuncture and therefore act as their own controls. The duration between the normal IVF treatment and the IVF treatment with acupuncture is 1 month.

Study design

Allocation

Non-randomised trial

Intervention model

Crossover

Primary purpose

Treatment

Masking

Open (masking not used)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to 43 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Women aged < 43 years "a poor responder" i.e. producing less than 4 oocytes undergoing an antagonist cycle

Exclusion criteria

Use of any drug that can affect follicular blood flow e.g. Non-Steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDS), current smoker, or use of anti-hypertensives. Unable to attend for the allocated acupuncture sessions Planning to use acupuncture during their next IVF cycle

Outcome results