Clinical Effect of Menstrual Cycle-based Traditional Chinese Medicine Sequential Therapy on In Vitro Fertilization-Embryo Transfer in Endometriosis Patients with Infertility

Objective To investigate the clinical effect of menstrual cycle-based traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) sequential therapy on in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer(IVF-ET) in endometriosis(EM) patients with infertility.Methods EM patients with infertility who were ready to undergo IVF-ET were randomly divided into control group(n=28) and the TCM group(n=25).The control group received IVF-ET alone,while the TCM group received menstrual cycle-based TCM sequential therapy in addition to IVF-ET.The TCM sequential therapy comprised a basic prescription composed of China dodder seed,Angelica sinensis,Salvia miltiorrhiza,Rhizoma Cyperi,Radix Notoginseng,Chicken's Gizzard-membrane,and so on,a yin-nourishing prescription for the follicular phase,a kidney-tonifying prescription for the ovulation phase,and a yang-warming prescription for the luteal phase.The two groups were compared with respect to number of oocytes retrieved,embryo implantation rate,and pregnancy rate.Results There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of age,number of oocytes retrieved,and endometrial thickness on the day when human chorionic gonadotrophin was injected.The TCM group showed significantly higher embryo implantation rate than the control group.There were no significant differences in fertilization rate and pregnancy rate between the two groups,although the pregnancy rate of the TCM group was higher than that of the control group.Conclusion Menstrual cycle-based TCM sequential therapy can increase the endometrial receptivity and thus embryo implantation rate in EM patients with infertility.