The impact of acupuncture on the success of IVF treatments - a RCT
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The impact of acupuncture on the success rates of IVF treatments - a RCT
IRAS ID
126456
Contact name
Karin Gillerman
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
R&D department, Homerton University Hospitals NHS Trust
Research summary
10-15% of couples have difficulty conceiving, and seek specialist fertility care at least once during their reproductive lifetime. In vitro fertilization (IVF) has been the mainstay for couples with blocked fallopian tubes, male factor with reduced sperm count and unexplained infertility with prolonged (>3 year) duration.The live birth rates in IVF is 30- 35% and decreases with increasing age of the woman.
Numerous methods have been tried to improve the results of IVF. Among the methods, acupuncture has shown in promising results in some studies. Hence, an increasing number of fertility specialists and centres use acupuncture as a part of their IVF protocol. However, many of these trials are heterogeneous and results are inconsistent.
However, any proposed method to improve IVF results is worthy of thorough investigation. Hence we aim to perform a randomized trial to examine the effect of acupuncture on clinical pregnancy and live birth rates on women undergoing IVF treatment. Should acupuncture prove to be significantly beneficial it can be offered to women undergoing IVF therapy in the future.REC name
London - Harrow Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/LO/1356
Date of REC Opinion
13 Dec 2013
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion