Farber Nicholas J, Madhusoodanan Vinayak K, Gerkowicz Sabrina A, Patel Premal, Ramasamy Ranjith
Department of Urology, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, The Glickman Urological & Kidney Institute, Cleveland, OH, USA.
Department of Urology, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
Gynecol Pelvic Med. 2019 Oct;2. doi: 10.21037/gpm.2019.09.04. Epub 2019 Oct 23.
Obstetricians and gynecologists, and in particular reproductive endocrinologists (REIs), are typically the gatekeepers and first-line providers for couples initially seeking an infertility evaluation. A timely referral to a reproductive urologist may improve pregnancy outcomes in certain clinical scenarios. This review examines the evidence behind circumstances requiring referral and delivers practice-based recommendations on commonly encountered scenarios in the clinic. Scenarios that should prompt referral to a reproductive urologist include semen analysis (SA) abnormalities (e.g., asthenozoospermia, azoospermia, globozoospermia, leukocytospermia, necrozoospermia, oligospermia), recurrent intrauterine insemination (IUI)/in vitro fertilization (IVF) failure, and idiopathic recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). Conversely, deferment is appropriate in the cases of isolated teratozoospermia and subclinical varicocele. Men with infertility are also at higher risk for other comorbid conditions and should have at least a baseline evaluation by a primary care physician. Coordination of care between a REI and reproductive urologist is critical in several clinical scenarios and expedient referral can improve reproductive outcomes.
产科医生和妇科医生,尤其是生殖内分泌专家(REIs),通常是最初寻求不孕症评估的夫妇的把关人和一线医疗服务提供者。在某些临床情况下,及时转诊至生殖泌尿科医生可能会改善妊娠结局。本综述探讨了需要转诊的相关证据,并针对临床中常见的情况提供基于实践的建议。应促使转诊至生殖泌尿科医生的情况包括精液分析(SA)异常(如弱精子症、无精子症、圆头精子症、白细胞精子症、死精子症、少精子症)、反复宫内人工授精(IUI)/体外受精(IVF)失败以及不明原因的反复妊娠丢失(RPL)。相反,对于单纯的畸形精子症和亚临床精索静脉曲张病例,推迟转诊是合适的。不育男性患其他合并症的风险也更高,应由初级保健医生至少进行一次基线评估。在几种临床情况下,生殖内分泌专家和生殖泌尿科医生之间的协调护理至关重要,及时转诊可改善生殖结局。