COMPARISON OF FALLOPIAN-TUBE SPERM PERFUSION WITH INTRAUTERINE INSEMINATION IN THE TREATMENT OF INFERTILITY

Objective: To compare the efficacy of fallopian tube sperm perfusion u tilizing a Foley catheter technique with standard IUI. Design: Randomi zed controlled study. Setting: The infertility units of the University Central Hospital and the Family Federation of Finland, Oulu, Finland. Patient(s): One hundred infertile women with unexplained factor, mini mal to mild endometriosis, mild male factor, or ovarian dysfunction, u ndergoing 50 IUI and 50 fallopian tube sperm perfusion cycles stimulat ed by clomiphene citrate and hMG. Intervention(s): Thirty-six hours af ter hCG; administration, patients were randomized to either the IUI gr oup (group 1, 50 patients and cycles) or the fallopian tube sperm perf usion group (group 2, 50 patients and cycles). Intrauterine inseminati on was performed using a standard method and fallopian tube sperm perf usion with a pediatric Foley catheter, which prevents the reflux of sp erm suspension. Main Outcome Measure(s): Number of clinical pregnancie s. Result(s): The fallopian tube sperm perfusion method using a Foley catheter technique was easy to perform and convenient for the patients . The overall pregnancy rate per cycle was 8% for fallopian tube sperm perfusion and 20% for IUI, a difference that was not significant. Con clusion(s): The fallopian tube sperm perfusion method using a Foley ca theter offers no advantage in comparison with the conventional IUI tec hnique. (C) 1997 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.