Difficult embryo transfer: the impact of propofol anesthesia

Background: Difficult embryo transfers (ET) requiring general anesthesia are occasionally encountered in clinical practice. Little evidence is present in the literature as to the success rates when compared with difficult transfers not requiring anesthesia.
Objective: To evaluate the impact of using Propofol anesthesia during difficult embryo transfers on the implantation and clinical pregnancy rates.
Design: Retrospective patient chart review.
Materials and methods: Women undergoing ICSI cycles in the Egyptian IVF-ET center, from January 2000 – December 2002, and having difficult ET requiring general anesthesia (Group I = 99 women) were included. A matching group of women with difficult ET, without anesthesia (Group II = 99 women) were used as a control.
Results: There were no significant differences in the patient demographics (e.g. age, period of infertility, number of oocytes retrieved, fertilization rate, embryo quality, number of embryos transferred. Moreover, there was no significant differences in implantation (Group I = 19.15%, Group II = 20.86%) or clinical pregnancy rates (Group I = 36.36%, Group II = 33.33%).
Conclusion: The use of propofol general anesthesia during difficult embryo transfer does not seem to improve the implantation and pregnancy rates. Even though, prospective randomized trials are needed to confirm these findings.