IMR Press / CEOG / Volume 49 / Issue 11 / DOI: 10.31083/j.ceog4911250
Open Access Original Research
A Comparison of Triple and Double Sperm Washing for Density Gradient Preparation in Intrauterine Insemination Cycles when Overnight Incubation of Specimens Occurred: A Retrospective Cohort
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1 Maternity Hospital, Samsun Teaching and Education Hospital, 55090 Samsun, Turkey
2 Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Science, Ondokuzmayıs University, 55270 Samsun, Turkey
3 Department of Obsterics and Gynecology, Duzce University, 81620 Düzce, Turkey
4 IVF Center, Medicana Hospital, 34520 Samsun, Turkey
5 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, Mc Gill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0G4, Canada
*Correspondence: dahanhaim@hotmail.com (Michael H. Dahan)
Academic Editor: Shigeki Matsubara
Clin. Exp. Obstet. Gynecol. 2022, 49(11), 250; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.ceog4911250
Submitted: 30 May 2022 | Revised: 28 July 2022 | Accepted: 12 August 2022 | Published: 11 November 2022
Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

Background: The number of sperm washes to maximize outcomes for intra-uterine insemination has not been well investigated. Therefore, we undertook to compare the pregnancy and live birth rates of triple sperm washing and double sperm washing for density gradient preparation for intrauterine insemination (IUI) cycles. Methods: A retrospective cohort study including 279 couples (136 couples with triple sperm washing and 143 couples with double sperm washing) with a diagnosis of unexplained infertility and mild male subfertility who had IUI cycles between April 2015 and April 2017 were evaluated. After overnight incubation of the sperm, subjects underwent either traditional double sperm washing or Triple sperm washing which consists of use of a third gradient and spinning procedure to the conventional double gradient sperm washing in order to obtain a higher quantity of motile sperm. Results: Total sperm count after triple washing was higher than double sperm washing (98.25 ± 62.06 vs. 81.08 ± 31.57; p = 0.003). Positive β-hCG test and live birth per cycle were higher in triple sperm washing (25.8% vs. 13.3%, p = 0.009; 18.4% vs. 9.8%, p = 0.039; respectively) than in the double sperm washing group. Conclusions: The use of motile sperms obtained from triple sperm washing may increase the rates of pregnancy and live birth in IUI cycles of women with unexplained and mild male factor infertility. A prospective randomized study should be undertaken to confirm the results.

Keywords
intrauterine insemination
live birth
pregnancy
infertility
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