Skip Navigation


Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on July 10, 2006
Human Reproduction 2006 21(11):2911-2915; doi:10.1093/humrep/del263
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF ) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
21/11/2911    most recent
del263v1
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (2)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Brook, N.
Right arrow Articles by Braude, P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Brook, N.
Right arrow Articles by Braude, P.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

A randomized controlled trial of prophylactic antibiotics (co-amoxiclav) prior to embryo transfer

N. Brook1, Y. Khalaf1,3, A. Coomarasamy1, J. Edgeworth2 and P. Braude1

1 Assisted Conception Unit and 2 Department of Microbiology, Guy’s and St Thomas’s Hospital Foundation Trust, London, UK

3 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Assisted Conception Unit, Guy’s Hospital, 4th Floor, Thomas Guy House, London SE1 9RT, UK. E-mail: yakoub.khalaf{at}kcl.ac.uk

BACKGROUND: Bacterial contamination of the transfer catheter during embryo transfer is associated with poor clinical outcomes. Antibiotics at the time of embryo transfer may improve outcomes. We evaluated the effect of co-amoxiclav on the rates of bacterial contamination of transfer catheters and clinical pregnancy. METHODS: On the day of oocyte collection, 350 patients were randomized, with sequentially numbered opaque-sealed envelopes containing treatment allocation assigned randomly by computer, to receive co-amoxiclav on the day before and the day of embryo transfer, or no antibiotics. Following transfer, the catheter tips were cultured and assessed to identify the organism(s) isolated and to quantify the level of the contamination. Couples were followed for 8 weeks to determine whether they had achieved clinical pregnancy. Outcome assessors were blinded to the treatment allocation, and the analysis was by intention to treat. RESULTS: Antibiotics significantly reduced catheter contamination rates (49.4 versus 62.3%, RR = 0.79, 95% CI: 0.64, 0.97, P = 0.03). There was no difference detected in clinical pregnancy rates between the two groups (36.0 versus 35.5%, P = 0.83) although there was a significant (P = 0.03) association between the level of bacterial contamination and clinical pregnancy rates. CONCLUSIONS: Co-amoxiclav reduces catheter contamination, but this is not translated into better clinically relevant outcomes such as clinical pregnancy rates. Our findings do not support the routine use of antibiotics at embryo transfer.

Key words: antibiotics/catheter contamination rates/clinical pregnancy rates/embryo transfer/randomised controlled trials


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Hum ReprodHome page
N. Hammadieh, A. Coomarasamy, B. Ola, S. Papaioannou, M. Afnan, and K. Sharif
Ultrasound-guided hydrosalpinx aspiration during oocyte collection improves pregnancy outcome in IVF: a randomized controlled trial
Hum. Reprod., May 1, 2008; 23(5): 1113 - 1117.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.