Progesterone Supplementation after IVF Egg Retrieval

IVF practitioners routinely use progesterone for luteal support in IVF cycles. What this means in plain English! Is that during an in vitro fertilization cycle, after the egg retrieval and before the embryos are replaced back in the uterus, progesterone is given to the patient to help make implantation more successful.

How is Progesterone for IVF administered?

There are many ways to supplement progesterone including intramuscular injection, vaginal gels, vaginal suppositories, and oral progesterone. Intramuscular injections have been the standard in the United States. Unfortunately injections can be quite distressing to the patient and therefore many practitioners have been moving to alternate approaches.

In a recent article in Fertility and Sterility a prospective trial comparing intramuscular progesterone injections to a vaginal progesterone gel known as Crinone is reviewed. A prospective trial is the most accurate way to compare two treatment regimens, and since this is one of the first trials that is both prospective and large it is worthwhile noting its results.

What the authors fromTexas found is that the use of Crinone versus intramuscular progesterone is just as successful if not more so in producing live births through in vitro fertilization. This paper provides strong support for the adoption of vaginal progesterone gel for luteal support during in vitro fertilization.

Here at Innovative Fertility Center we traditionally used the intramuscular approach. With more and more literature supporting the use of vaginal progesterone supplementation we will begin changing our regiment to this more gentle vaginal method.

For more information on Progesterone Supplementation please visit https://innovativefertility.com/