Conception and pregnancy outcome after laparoscopic treatment of subtle distal fallopian tube abnormalities in infertile women: a prospective cohort study

Research question: What are conception rates and pregnancy outcomes after laparoscopic treatment of subtle distal tubal abnormalities among infertile women, and which factors relate to natural conception?Design: Prospective cohort study (n = 234) conducted in a single fertility referral centre between January 2017 and December 2018. Subtle abnormalities included fimbrial agglutination, tubal diverticula, accessory ostium, fimbrial phimosis and accessory fallopian tube. Pregnancy outcomes were followed-up annually until 36 months.Results: One hundred and nine patients conceived naturally (natural conception rate 4 6.6%), and 59 patients conceived after IVF. Term live birth rate of the natural conception group was significantly higher than the IVF conception group (86.2% versus 71.2%, chi-squared = 5.625, P = 0.018). Preterm birth (11.9% versus 0%, P = 0.001) and multiple pregnancy rates (27.1% versus 0%, P < 0.001) of the IVF conception group were significantly higher than the natural conception group. Patient age (hazard ratio = 0.917, 95% CI 0.870 to 0.967, P = 0.001), duration of infertility (hazard ratio = 0.846, 95% CI 0.740 to 0.966, P = 0.014) and concurrent types of subtle abnormalities (hazard ratio = 0.636, 95% CI 0.416 to 0.970, P = 0.036) were factors associated with natural conception.Conclusions: Laparoscopy is an effective treatment for infertile patients with subtle abnormalities, especially for young patients with a short infertile period and at most two types of subtle abnormalities. For older women, a long infertile period and more than two types of subtle abnormalities, IVF may be more suitable after laparoscopic diagnosis.

Automated summary

This study aimed to investigate the conception rates and pregnancy outcomes after laparoscopic treatment of subtle distal tubal abnormalities among infertile women, and to identify factors related to natural conception. The results showed that laparoscopy significantly increased the rates of natural conception and term live births among infertile women, compared to IVF. The IVF group had higher rates of preterm birth and multiple pregnancy. Patient age, duration of infertility, and concurrent types of subtle abnormalities were factors associated with natural conception.