Controlled ovarian hyperstimulation/intrauterine insemination cycles in subfertile couples. Effect of a six-day-only laboratory work week on cycle fecundity rates.

OBJECTIVE

Controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) combined with intrauterine insemination (IUI) is commonly used to improve fecundability in subfertile couples with tubal patency. Daily hormonal and/or sonographic monitoring is considered important to minimize risks and determine optimal timing of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) administration. No patient monitoring or IUI services are available on Sundays in our program. We sought to determine if lack of Sunday monitoring and IUI services adversely affected cycle fecundity (CF) in our COH-IUI program.

STUDY DESIGN

We retrospectively analyzed 1,336 consecutive COH-IUI cycles and compared the CF rate for IUIs performed on either Saturday or Monday (group I) with those done on Tuesday through Friday (group II). Cycles where IUIs would have been ideally scheduled on Sunday, as determined by the patient's estradiol level and/or ultrasound, were performed on either Saturday or Monday by altering the day of hCG administration.

RESULTS

No difference existed in patient age, diagnosis, treatment or number of total motile sperm inseminated between groups I and II. The CF rate for group I (13.8%/cycle) was not significantly different than that for group II (11.8%).

CONCLUSION

We were unable to demonstrate any significant effect on pregnancy rates of suboptimal hCG timing in COH-IUI cycles resulting from the lack of Sunday services.