Surgery: ‘Blind’ transvaginal gamete intra-Fallopian transfer in distal tubal and peritubal pathology: an evaluation in respect to the laparoscopic approach

Abstract

Transvaginal gamete intra-Fallopian transfer (GIFT) is a new treatment modality for patients with proven tubal patency, avoiding invasive laparoscopy. In this study 79 cycles of standard laparoscopic GIFT (group 1) were analysed in comparison to 40 cycles of transvaginal intratubal gamete transfer guided by tactile sensation (group 2). GIFT in group 1 was performed for standard indications; patients with severe intra-abdominal adhesions, distal tubal pathology, peritubal adhesions or extreme obesity were included in group 2. No difference in mean age, duration of infertility, oestradiol level and number of oocytes was found. In group 1 a clinical pregnancy rate of 33% per GIFT cycle (n = 79) was achieved. The clinical pregnancy rate in group 2 was 17.5% per gamete transfer cycle. In conclusion, transvaginal GIFT offers an acceptable chance for in-vivo fertilization to patients who cannot be treated laparoscopically despite having patent tubes and who refuse in-vitro fertilization.