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12B - The Endometrial Scratch Has Had Its Day

Against

from Section II - IVF Add-ons

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 November 2021

Roy Homburg
Affiliation:
Homerton University Hospital, London
Adam H. Balen
Affiliation:
Leeds Centre for Reproductive Medicine
Robert F. Casper
Affiliation:
Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto
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Summary

The endometrial scratch has become a popular intervention in IVF, particularly in the management of patients presenting with recurrent implantation failure. However, randomised controlled trials that fail to show any benefit on clinical outcomes have recently been published. Given the invasive nature and uncertain putative mechanism of action, there is now a narrative that it should no longer be part of the therapeutic repertoire. In this article, the debate is not about whether the scratch should be used in routine clinical practice: there is enough convincing evidence to indicate it should not. What is challenged is the notion that the studies thus far performed allow the conclusion to be drawn that it will not be of value to any patient and has therefore ‘had its day’. A case is made for a different approach to assessing the efficacy of interventions in the management of recurrent implantation failure.

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Chapter
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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

Barash, A, Dekel, N, Fieldust, S, Segal, I, Schechtman, E, Granot, I. Local injury to the endometrium doubles the incidence of successful pregnancies in patients undergoing in vitro fertilization. Fertil Steril. 2003 June;79(6):1317–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brighton, PJ, Maruyama, Y, Fishwick, K, et al. Clearance of senescent decidual cells by uterine natural killer cells in cycling human endometrium. Elife. 2017 Dec 11;6. pii: e31274.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lensen, S, Venetis, C, Ng, EHY, et al. Should we stop offering endometrial scratching prior to in vitro fertilization? Fertil Steril. 2019 June;111(6):1094–101.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Odendaal, J, Quenby, S, Sammaritano, L, Macklon, N, Branch, DW, Rosenwaks, Z. Immunologic and rheumatologic causes and treatment of recurrent pregnancy loss: what is the evidence? Fertil Steril. 2019 Dec;112(6):1002–12.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lensen, S, Osavlyuk, D, Armstrong, S, et al. A randomized trial of endometrial scratching before in vitro fertilization. N Engl J Med. 2019 Jan 24;380(4):325–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Macklon, NS, Fauser, BCJM. Context-based infertility care. Reprod Biomed Online. 2020;40(1):25.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

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