New Study: Electro-acupuncture increases IVF success rate

Increase of success rate for women undergoing embryo transfer by transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation: a prospective randomized placebo-controlled study

Objective

To evaluate the effect of transcutaneous electrical acupoint 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.

Key Words: Acupuncture, transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS), pregnancy rate (PR), in vitro fertilization (IVF), embryo transfer (ET), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)