NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – For couples undergoing fertility treatment with intrauterine insemination (IUI), pregnancy rates are similar whether single or double insemination is performed in the same cycle, Indian clinicians report in Fertility and Sterility issued online August 2nd.

“Two inseminations during IUI only add cost and undue stress to the couple,” Dr. Neena Malhotra said in an email to Reuters Health.

Dr. Malhotra, with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, and colleagues note that controlled ovarian hyperstimulation with intrauterine insemination “is the first choice of treatment for couples with unexplained infertility.” However, there is no consensus on the value of double insemination in the same cycle.

To look into this, the team recruited 160 couples with unexplained infertility. After ovarian stimulation with clomiphene citrate and intramuscular hCG timed to follicle status, 79 women underwent single insemination 34 hours after hCG injection and 81 women had double insemination at 12 and 34 hours.

Dr. Malhotra’s team reports that 50 women in both groups conceived, and the overall live birth rates were 88.5% in the single IUI group and 87.5% in the double IUI group — a statistically nonsignificant difference.

“A single well timed IUI is sufficient in patients undergoing controlled ovarian hyperstimulation-IUI for unexplained infertility,” the investigators conclude.

“Well timed” means at 34-36 hours, Dr. Malhotra added. “Wait for yet another randomized trial from this group that confirms the benefit in terms of timing.”

Reference:

A randomized controlled trial comparing the effectiveness of single versus double intrauterine insemination in unexplained infertility


Fertil Steril 2010.