Progesterone for preparation of the endometrium for frozen–thawed blastocyst transfer in vitro fertilization cycles: a prospective study on patients’ opinions on a new subcutaneous formulation

Abstract

We aimed to evaluate patients’ perspectives on a progesterone subcutaneous formulation for endometrial preparation for frozen-thawed blastocyst transfer. In this prospective study, women with at least one experience with vaginal progesterone, undergone endometrial preparation with oral estradiol valerate and daily subcutaneous progesterone administered from the fifth day before the transfer until the day of the beta-hCG test. Patients completed three questionnaires, at enrollment (Q1), for gathering information on the experience with vaginal treatment and expectations about the subcutaneous route and then at the time of the transfer (Q2) and eight days later (Q3). Main outcome measures were patients' opinions on comfort, ease of use, convenience, overall satisfaction, level of anxiety and pain associated with the administration of subcutaneous progesterone in comparison with their previous experience. Sixty-nine women completed the questionnaires. All vaginal versus subcutaneous comparisons were significantly in favor of the subcutaneous route. When comparing patients’ expectations at Q1 with patients’ opinions at Q2 and Q3, all evaluations, except for one, demonstrated that the patient’s positive expectation was confirmed after 5 and 13 days of treatment. In conclusion, in women with previous experience with vaginal progesterone, the subcutaneous route was associated with significantly increased acceptance.

Chinese abstract

我们旨在评估患者对孕酮皮下制剂用于冻融胚胎移植周期的子宫内膜准备的看法。在这项前瞻性研究中, 女性受试者至少有过一次使用阴道孕酮, 并且使用口服戊酸雌二醇和每日皮下孕酮制剂进行子宫内膜准备, 从移植前5天开始使用, 持续至beta-hCG试验当天。患者需要完成三份问卷, 分别在登记之时(Q1), 移植时(Q2)和移植后第8天(Q3), 以收集关于阴道治疗的体验和对皮下孕酮制剂的预期。主要的结果指标是患者与之前的治疗相比, 皮下制剂治疗的舒适度、易用性、方便程度、总体满意度、焦虑程度和疼痛程度。有69名女性完成了该调查问卷。所有的阴道治疗和皮下制剂治疗相比都明显的支持皮下制剂治疗。患者在Q1的期望与Q2和Q3的意见相比较, 除了一个评价外, 其余所有的评价都表明患者在治疗5天和13天后得到了积极的治疗效果。综上所述, 之前有阴道孕酮治疗经历的女性中, 皮下制剂治疗的接受度明显增加。

Keywords:

• Endometrial preparation
• frozen-thawed blastocyst transfer
• subcutaneous progesterone

Acknowledgements

Editorial assistance for the linguistic review of this manuscript was provided by Edra S.p.A.

Ethical approval

‘All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.’

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.