Insights & Discussion
Acupuncture performed on the day of embryo transfer has a significant effect on embryo implantation, however, a negative one.
According to our findings, physicians should encourage their patients to avoid undergoing acupuncture on the day of ET, since it diminishes the chances of getting pregnant. It still has to be elucidated the mechanisms by which acupuncture negatively affects embryo implantation.
In conclusion, acupuncture performed on the day of ET has a significant effect on embryo implantation, however, a negative one. Therefore, clinicians should encourage their patients to avoid this technique the day of ET.
Discover Related Insights
The study found that acupuncture as an adjuvant therapy for frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) in infertile women had positive effects on pregnancy outcomes.
2022 Frontiers in Public Health Effects of acupuncture on the pregnancy outcomes of frozen-thawed embryo transfer: A systematic review and meta-analysis Zhu C, Xia W, Huang J, Zhang X, Li F, Yu X, et al.
Systematic Review Embryo Transfer Pregnancy
The study investigates the effects of acupuncture as supplementary therapy for frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) in infertile women. It finds significant positive impacts on clinical pregnancy rate, biochemical pregnancy rate, endometrial thickness, and pattern. However, the evidence quality is considered unsatisfactory, prompting a call for more robust research and refined acupuncture protocols.
Acupuncture may have a significant effect on clinical pregnancy rates, independent of comparator group, when used in women who have had multiple previous IVF cycles, or where there was a low baseline pregnancy rate.
2019 Reproductive BioMedicine Online Acupuncture performed around the time of embryo transfer: a systematic review and meta-analysis Smith, C. A., Armour, M., Shewamene, Z., et al.
Systematic Review Embryo Transfer Female Fertility IVF
Evidence suggests acupuncture may be effective when compared with no adjunctive treatment, with increased clinical pregnancies and live births, but is not an efficacious treatment when compared with sham controls. Future research should focus on different dosing acupuncture regimens, and exploration of the components of acupuncture that are contributing to improved reproductive outcomes. Increased understanding of these components may have broader application to the care and treatment modalities provided to women undergoing IVF. Further exploration of the effects of acupuncture for women with poorer IVF outcomes is warranted.
We found pooled benefit of acupuncture for IVF when performed at follicle phase and 25 min before and after embryo transfer, as well as 30 min after embryo transfer and implantation phase.
2015 Gynecologic and Obstetric Investigation The Role of Acupuncture in in vitro Fertilization: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Shen C.,Wu M., Shu D., Zhao X. and Gao Y.
Systematic Review Embryo Transfer Female Fertility IVF
Our study showed that acupuncture increased pregnancy rates when performed at follicle phase and 25 min before and after ET or 30 min after ET and after the implantation phase in the IVF process. However, there was no statistically significant difference in women undergoing IVF between treatment performed only around the time of ET, follicle phase or implantation phase. The study of Zheng et al. also showed that the pooled CPR result around the time of ET showed no significant differences between all acupuncture groups and the control groups. However, the CPR result of acupuncture performed around the time of controlled ovarian hyperstimulation showed a significant difference. The potential impact of acupuncture in the treatment of female infertility on the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis and on the uterus was significant, but the specific mechanism was still unknown.