A less invasive fertility procedure could be used to treat some infertile women
A woman with an obstructed cervix has been successfully treated for infertility using a technique known as intraperitoneal insemination (IPI). The technique, described in a case report just published in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, is less invasive and cheaper than alternative infertility treatments, which involve the harvesting of a woman’s eggs.
Scott Sills from the Atlanta Medical Center and Gianpiero Palermo from the Cornell Institute for Reproductive Medicine describe how they were able to successfully assist the 37 year old women to get pregnant. Their decision to publish this research in an online open access journal allows this important study to be read by the widest possible audience.
In couples with healthy semen, standard fertility treatments such as intrauterine insemination are usually the most appropriate. However, these treatments cannot be used if a narrow or obstructed cervix blocks the path to the uterus. Such women are usually offered either corrective surgery to remove the blockage or invasive fertility treatments like gamete or zygote intrafallopian transfer. Sills and Palermo suggest that women who have no blockages in their fallopian tubes could receive intraperitoneal insemination.
Intraperitoneal insemination bypasses the cervix by injecting sperm through the vagina, directly into the pelvic cavity where eggs are released. In this case study, the patient was first treated with follicle stimulating hormone to induce ovulation after which a specially prepared sperm sample was injected into the pelvic cavity. Following the procedure progesterone was given to the patient for eight weeks. The procedure was a success and it is hoped that it will be a useful alternative to more complex fertility treatments in patients where a cervical factor contributes to their infertility.
To read this article in full visit: http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2393-2-9.pdf
The authors of this research can by contacted by email
Scott Sills – dr.sills@ivf.com
Gianpiero Palermo – gdpalerm@med.cornell.edu
Media Contact
All latest news from the category: Health and Medicine
This subject area encompasses research and studies in the field of human medicine.
Among the wide-ranging list of topics covered here are anesthesiology, anatomy, surgery, human genetics, hygiene and environmental medicine, internal medicine, neurology, pharmacology, physiology, urology and dental medicine.
Newest articles
Trotting robots reveal emergence of animal gait transitions
A four-legged robot trained with machine learning by EPFL researchers has learned to avoid falls by spontaneously switching between walking, trotting, and pronking – a milestone for roboticists as well…
Innovation promises to prevent power pole-top fires
Engineers in Australia have found a new way to make power-pole insulators resistant to fire and electrical sparking, promising to prevent dangerous pole-top fires and reduce blackouts. Pole-top fires pose…
Possible alternative to antibiotics produced by bacteria
Antibacterial substance from staphylococci discovered with new mechanism of action against natural competitors. Many bacteria produce substances to gain an advantage over competitors in their highly competitive natural environment. Researchers…
