Influence of Catheter Type and Tenaculum Use on Intrauterine Insemination Outcome

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Numune Education and Research Hospital, Ankara,Turkey

2 Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Ankara Guven Hospital, Ankara, Turkey

3 Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Zekai Tahir Burak Women’s Health and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey

4 Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Konya Education and Research Hospital, Konya, Turkey

Abstract

Background: We investigated the impact of the choice of catheter type and tenaculum use on pregnancy related outcomes
in intrauterine insemination (IUI) treatments.
Materials and Methods: A total of 338 consecutive IUI cycles were assessed in this retrospective study. Participants
were divided according to the insemination technique - soft catheter (group 1; n=175), firm catheter (group 2; n=100),
or tenaculum (group 3; n=63). Clinical, laboratory, semen parameters and pregnancy related outcomes were compared.
Results: Demographic characteristics and laboratory parameters were similar between the groups (P>0.05). The clinical
pregnancy rate (CPR) was significantly higher in the firm catheter (19%, 19/100) and tenaculum (31.7%, 20/63)
groups compared to the soft catheter group (5.1%, 9/175, p <0.001). There were no significant differences between
the groups in live birth and miscarriage rates per clinical pregnancy (P>0.05).
Conclusion: Our findings indicate that the use of a firm catheter or tenaculum for IUI might result in a higher CPR, but
might not have a considerable effect on the live birth rate (LBR). Further prospective randomized studies are required
to determine the long-term effects of the catheter type or tenaculum use on IUI success.

Keywords