Day of Egg Retrieval

1 Acupuncture treatment as close to before egg retrieval as possible

For some women egg retrieval can be a painful process. Acupuncture can help reduce the amount of pain a woman experiences during the procedure and therefore reduce the amount of pain medication administered during the retrieval. Research shows that doing acupuncture immediately before egg retrieval reduces the amount of pain experienced*, the amount of opiate pain medication used* and a woman has less tiredness and confusion after the procedure.**

*Auricular electro-acupuncture as an additional perioperative analgesic method during oocyte aspiration in IVF treatment.

Sator-Katzenschlager SM, Wölfler MM, Kozek-Langenecker SA, Sator K, Sator PG, Li B, Heinze G, Sator MO.
Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Austria. sabine-katzenschlager@meduniwien.ac.at

Hum Reprod. 2006 Aug;21(8):2114-20. Epub 2006 May 5

** Electro-acupuncture versus conventional analgesia: a comparison of pain levels during oocyte aspiration and patients' experiences of well-being after surgery.

Gejervall AL, Stener-Victorin E, Möller A, Janson PO, Werner C, Bergh C.
Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Institute for the Health of Women and Children, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg University, SE-413 45 Göteborg, Sweden. anne-louise.gejervall@vgregion.se
Hum Reprod. 2005 Mar;20(3):728-35. Epub 2004 Dec 17