The method of choice for assisted reproductive technology treatment in vitro fertilisation (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is usually based on the evaluation of male infertility factors. Decisions for couples with moderate oligoasthenozoospermia (OA) are often empirical because uniform treatment criteria are lacking. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of patients with moderate OA treated with conventional IVF and ICSI. A total of 199 couples with moderate OA undergoing their first IVF/ICSI cycle were included in the study. The patients were divided into two groups according to the type of insemination: conventional IVF group (n = 97) and ICSI group (n = 102). All patients were randomised to be inseminated either by conventional IVF or ICSI. The fertilisation rate, embryo quality, implantation rate and clinical pregnancy rate were examined. No differences in the fertilisation, implantation and pregnancy rates were observed between conventional IVF and ICSI groups (P > 0.05). However, the number of good-quality embryos was significantly higher in the ICSI group than in the IVF group (P < 0.05). Couples with moderate OA did not influence on the overall clinical outcomes between IVF and ICSI treatments, and a negative influence by ICSI on blastocyst development was not confirmed.

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