Therapeutic Effects of Acupuncture on In Vitro Fertilization

Research has recently been conducted to review previous published studies of the effects of acupuncture on IVF outcomes. The study involved women undergoing IVF in randomized controlled trials (RCTs), with treatment groups using acupuncture techniques ranging from traditional and electrical to laser and auricular. The control groups comprised no, sham, and placebo acupuncture.

As part of the latest study, outcomes were classified as:

• Biochemical pregnancy rate (BPR)
• Clinical pregnancy rate (CPR)
• Live birth rate (LBR)
• Ongoing pregnancy rate (OPR)

The therapeutic effect’s heterogeneity was evaluated by a forest-plot analysis, with publication bias determines by funnel-plot analysis.

Results

According to Springer, more than 6,300 people took part in 30 trials. CPR results showed a significant difference between the acupuncture and control groups. In the Asian vs. non-Asian sub groups, results greatly benefited the CPR in the Asian group, with IVF outcomes being higher than those from the control groups.

In the time category, IVF outcome results were superior in the acupuncture group when the acupuncture was applied during controlled ovarian hyper-stimulation. When conducted at the time of embryo transfer, however, the BPR and OPR from the acupuncture groups were much lower than those of the Asian group controls.

Conclusions

Analysis of the above studies shows that acupuncture increases the CPR among women going through IVF. When restricted to just Asian vs. non-Asian patients, electrical acupuncture got better IVF results. This is in comparison with traditional acupuncture and other methods. Superior positive effects were anticipated through the use of acupuncture in IVF during COH, particularly in the Asian groups. However, due to the restrictions of the studies, the number of transferred embryos was not included in the information.

There have certainly been many controversial results reported in regards to the effects of acupuncture on in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcomes. The above study is yet another attempt to dissuade those controversial results and provide a positive insight on IVF, giving patients another avenue of hope for results with acupuncture.

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