As you can see from the abstract below, clinical pregnancy rate, implantation rate, and live birth rate all improved in the acupuncture group. With pregnancy rate improving from 29.3% to 50%, implantation rate increasing from 15.0% to 25.9% and live birth dramatically increasing from 21.2% to 42.0%.
The study was published in Fertility and Sterility in 2011.
Fertil Steril. 2011 Oct;96(4):912-6. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2011.07.1093. Epub 2011 Sep 8.
Increase of success rate for women undergoing embryo transfer by transcutaneous electrical acupuncture point stimulation: a prospective randomized placebo-controlled study.
Author information
Zhang R1, Feng XJ, Guan Q, Cui W, Zheng Y, Sun W, Han JS.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
To evaluate the effect of transcutaneous electrical acupuncture point stimulation (TEAS) on pregnancy rates (PR) in women undergoing ET.
DESIGN:
Prospective, randomized, single-blinded placebo-controlled clinical trial.
SETTING:
Research and laboratory facilities.
PATIENT(S):
A total of 309 patients, less than 45 years old, undergoing cryopreservation embryos transplant or fresh cycle IVF with or without intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).
INTERVENTION(S):
The subjects were randomly allocated to three groups: mock TEAS treatment: 30 minutes after ET (group I, n = 99); single TEAS treatment: 30 minutes after ET (group II, n = 110); and double TEAS treatments: 24 hours before ET and 30 minutes after ET (group III, n = 100).
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S):
Clinical PR, embryos implantation rate, live birth rate.
RESULT(S):
The clinical PR, embryos implantation rate, and live birth rate of group I (29.3%, 15.0%, and 21.2%, respectively) were significantly lower than those in group II (42.7%, 25.7%, and 37.3%, respectively) and group III (50.0%, 25.9%, and 42.0%, respectively).
CONCLUSION(S):
Transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation, especially double TEAS, significantly improved the clinical outcome of ET.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21862001