Comparison of intrauterine insemination and timed intercourse following controlled ovarian hyperstimulation in unexplained infertility: a randomized controlled trial

Background: Being a diagnosis of exclusion the treatment options of unexplained infertility are often empiric. There is significant dilemma regarding the superiority of one over another. Despite increasing use of intrauterine insemination (IUI) in adjunct to controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) there is scarcity of randomized controlled trials (RCT) from developing countries. Objective was to compare IUI and timed intercourse (TI) in super ovulated cycles among couples with unexplained infertility over one year.Methods: In this prospective randomized controlled trial total 85 patients were randomly assigned into group 1 (COH with IUI, N= 44) and group 2 (COH with TI, N=41). Patients underwent COH using sequential Clomiphene Citrate and injection human menopausal gonadotrophin followed by IUI in group 1 and timed intercourse in group 2. Either protocol was repeated for three consecutive cycles. Finally, both groups were compared for clinical pregnancy rate, adverse effects and acceptability of the treatment process and outcome. Comparison was done by Student’s unpaired t test for continuous and 2-tailed chi square test for categorical variables.Results: Clinical pregnancy rates following COH/IUI and COH/TI were 13.64% and 19.51% respectively. There was observable difference in the acceptability of the outcome (38.64% in IUI and 56.09% in TI group). All the results including complications and side effect rates were statistically insignificant.Conclusions: Present study failed to show any improvement of pregnancy rates following addition of IUI over TI and it raised the probability that the outcome of the procedure may not be well accepted