David Cherry Acupuncture David D. Cherry O.M.D., L.Ac.  |   (916) 789-1007

Embryo Transfer Acupuncture

Important information regarding acupuncture on day of embryo transfer

BACK IN THE DAY


A study by Wolfgang Paulus, et. Al. in April 2002 in Fertility and Sterility, Volume 77, Issue 4, was the granddaddy of acupuncture and embryo transfer studies. It established the basic protocol of acupuncture 25 minutes before and 25 minutes after embryo transfer, utilizing a fixed set of points that were, in theory, supposed to relax the uterus as well as the patient, and aid in implantation.  Paulus showed a 18-22% improvement in pregnancy rates over non-acupuncture embryo transfer

In Fertility and Sterility, Volume 85, Issue 5, May 2006, Westergaard, et. Al. showed an 11% improvement in FET success, measuring pregnancy rate in patients undergoing acupuncture before and after embryo transfer. This again was a fixed protocol, slightly different from the Paulus protocol. No further improvement was shown when doing acupuncture 2 days later.

Several more studies were conducted over the intervening years between the Paulus protocol and now. Most showed a very similar success rate to Paulus utilizing the same fixed acupuncture protocol of 13 specific points before, and again after, embryo transfer. These were all good, and helped many families to have new babies.

 

AND NOWADAYS

Obviously, any good clinician is constantly searching and studying ways to improve patient care and the outcomes they achieve. I am no different. In my constant online research, about two years ago I found the newest and most successful day of embryo transfer protocol to date, and interestingly it is no protocol at all. It is much more consistent with traditional Asian medicine methodology, wherein the practitioner uses traditional diagnostic tools (pulse, tongue and skin and hair texture) to assess what the patient needs and will respond to on that day at that time. So every treatment is different and is customized for the patient. This is known as individualized acupuncture. And this study utilizes exactly that, individualized treatment immediately before and after embryo transfer. Here it is:

Fertility and Sterility: Journal of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, ASRM Abstracts, Volume 118, No. 4, Supplement October 2022

A study of 2330 women undergoing frozen embryo transfer, 579 of whom received acupuncture   immediately before and immediately after frozen embryo transfer, performed on site at the IVF clinic, within 30 minutes of FET both before and after embryo transfer.

The main outcome measure was live birth rate. Secondary outcome measures were miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy. While there was no statistical difference in miscarriage and ectopic pregnancies, the outcome in live birth rate improvement was dramatic. The conclusion of the study is as follows, and I quote:

“Conclusion: Individualized acupuncture on the day of embryo transfer was associated with a 55% increase in FET live births and a 42% reduction biochemical pregnancies compared to FET alone.

“Impact Statement: Individualized day of embryo transfer acupuncture was associated with significant benefit to patients undergoing FET.”

Note that the study refers to “individualized acupuncture”, not some predetermined (think Paulus) protocol written long ago and far away by some acupuncturist trying to prescribe an effective treatment for all cases, not just the individual. Wolfgang Paulus had the right idea, but the Paulus protocol has long been sent to the dust bin. In individualized acupuncture, I examine you using your pulse and tongue and other traditional methods to determine your exact imbalance on that day at that time, and treat accordingly. This is the key to success in acupuncture. I too, when I first started doing day of embryo transfer acupuncture in 2004, used the old Paulus Protocol, simply because that was the current methodology and showed at 17-24 percent improvement in pregnancy rates. At that time, that was great. Nowadays, Paulus is obsolete.