London - A simple scratch could double a woman’s chances of having an IVF baby, doctors believe.
A study found that gently scratching the lining of the womb before IVF greatly increased the odds of pregnancy, cutting the financial and emotional cost of repeated treatment.
IVF costs between £3 000 and £15 000 a course, but just one in four of the 50 000 women who have it each year have a baby.
The technique, called endometrial scratching, involves using an instrument similar to a coffee-stirrer to make four scratches on the lining of the womb.
It costs around £300 (about R5 400) and only takes a few minutes.
Doctors believe a fledgling embryo may find it easier to nestle in the furrows.
It is also possible that the scratches release hormones that make the womb stickier and so the embryo finds it easier to implant.
Sir Robert Edwards – the IVF pioneer behind the birth of Louise Brown, the world’s first test-tube baby – was a firm believer in the technique.
The practice fell out of favour as fertility treatment became more technical but some doctors feel it is time to bring it back.
Clinics around the world are researching it, and Britain’s first proper trial of the technique has just finished. The latest study, at Ankara University in Turkey, involved 114 women aged under 40 who had tried IVF without success at least twice.
About 38 percent of those given endometrial scratching with IVF became pregnant, compared with 20 percent of those given IVF alone, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s conference in Honolulu heard.
Charles Kingsland, of the Hewitt Fertility Centre at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, said data on the technique is “quite encouraging”, but clear evidence of its benefits are needed before all fertility doctors are advised to use it.
Professor Kingsland said: “It’s a very technically easy thing for a suitably trained gynaecologist to do.
“It’s not the most pleasant thing … We advocate that the woman has a paracetamol before she comes in.
“After a cup of tea, the vast majority of women will be able to drive home.”
The consultant gynaecologist, who was mentored by Sir Robert, said: “When we were putting embryos back … he said, ‘Make a little scratch when you put them in’. And we thought, ‘That’s not right, you should be putting them in very, very delicately and carefully’, and it’s turned full circle now.’”
He added that the procedure “would be brilliant if it did work”.
Nick Raine-Fenning, of Nottingham University’s Nurture fertility unit, said studies have had mixed results. But, on balance, successes outweigh the failures.
“It is possible that only a certain sub-group of patients may see an increase in pregnancy and birth rates and that the benefit is restricted to those with previous unsuccessful attempts at IVF,” he said.
Dr Raine-Fenning added that there is some scepticism about the practice because “we remain uncertain of the underlying mechanism”. - Daily Mail