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12A - The Endometrial Scratch Has Had Its Day

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from Section II - IVF Add-ons

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 November 2021

Roy Homburg
Affiliation:
Homerton University Hospital, London
Adam H. Balen
Affiliation:
Leeds Centre for Reproductive Medicine
Robert F. Casper
Affiliation:
Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto
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Summary

Endometrial scratching, also known as endometrial injury or trauma, is an add-on suggested to boost the chance of IVF success. Although early evidence appeared to demonstrate a benefit from endometrial scratching in women undergoing IVF, these studies were fraught with methodological issues and associated with a high risk of bias. Despite the poor quality of evidence, endometrial scratching became one of the most popular IVF add-ons in many settings. The procedure is also associated with harms including pain, risk of infection, and a cost of up to US$500. More recent evidence from a large, robust, trial reports no evidence of any benefit from endometrial scratching. Pre-specified subgroup analysis did not reveal any population of women who may benefit. Against a backdrop of only poor-quality research, this new evidence spells the end for endometrial scratching.

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Chapter
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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

Barash, A, Dekel, N, Fieldust, S, Segal, I, Schechtman, E, Granot, I. Local injury to the endometrium doubles the incidence of successful pregnancies in patients undergoing in vitro fertilization. Fertil Steril. 2003;79(6):1317–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nastri, CO, Lensen, SF, Gibreel, A, et al. Endometrial injury in women undergoing assisted reproductive techniques. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2015, Issue 3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, W, Suke, S, Wertaschnigg, D, et al. Randomised controlled trials evaluating endometrial scratching: assessment of methodological issues. Hum Reprod. 2019;34(12):2372–80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mahran, A, Ibrahim, M, Bahaa, H. The effect of endometrial injury on first cycle IVF/ICSI outcome: a randomized controlled trial. Int J Reprod Biomed. 2016;14(3):193–8.Google ScholarPubMed
Lensen, S, Osavlyuk, D, Armstrong, S, et al. A randomized trial of endometrial scratching before in vitro fertilization. N Engl J Med. 2019;24;380(4):325–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

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