Increase of success rate for women undergoing embryo transfer by transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation: a prospective randomized placebo-controlled study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) on pregnancy rates (PR) in women undergoing ET. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, single-blinded placebo-controlled clinical trial. SETTING: Research and laboratory facilities. PATIENT(S): A total of 309 patients, less than 45 years old, undergoing cryopreservation embryos transplant or fresh cycle IVF with or without intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). INTERVENTION(S): The subjects were randomly allocated to three groups: mock TEAS treatment: 30 minutes after ET (group I, n = 99); single TEAS treatment: 30 minutes after ET (group II, n = 110); and double TEAS treatments: 24 hours before ET and 30 minutes after ET (group III, n = 100). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Clinical PR, embryos implantation rate, live birth rate. RESULT(S): The clinical PR, embryos implantation rate, and live birth rate of group I (29.3%, 15.0%, and 21.2%, respectively) were significantly lower than those in group II (42.7%, 25.7%, and 37.3%, respectively) and group III (50.0%, 25.9%, and 42.0%, respectively). CONCLUSION(S): Transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation, especially double TEAS, significantly improved the clinical outcome of ET.