All About Intrauterine Insemination (IUI): What You Need To Know?

IUI is indicated for treatment of unexplained infertility, mild endometriosis, mild male factor infertility where sperm counts or speed are minimally affected. In an IUI cycle, female partner is given medicines for egg production from second or third day of her periods after a baseline ultrasound scan. Woman is then called for follow up for follicular monitoring. At the time egg has achieved a size of around 18-21 mm, woman is given a trigger injection for rupture of eggs from the ovary. At around 36-40 hours after trigger shot, IUI is done. It serves 2 purposes. Firstly, timing is appropriate and secondly only the best sperms with good capacity to fertilize eggs directly reach the uterine cavity so that both distance and time to travel are reduced, at the same time numbers and quality of sperms present in the cavity of the best quality.

In an IVF cycle, eggs from female are collected outside body, fertilized with a sperm in the lab. Embryo is formed in the lab itself and is then transferred into the uterus of woman. However in IUI, only selected sperms are injected into the uterus and fertilization happens inside female’s body.

Couples who are not able to conceive even after one year of unprotected intercourse and have one of these factors:

Women who do not ovulate without treatment, such as those with PCOS or those with ovulatory dysfunction.

• Couples with unexplained infertility where all tests like tubes, ovulation, semen examination are normal.
• Mild male factor where there are minimal problems with sperm counts and motility.
• Males with difficulty in ejaculation.
• Geographical factors where husband and wife are not staying at one place.
• Male partners with frozen sperms.
• Anyone who needs donor sperm, such as couples where male partner has nil or very low sperm counts, genetic diseases running in family, women willing to be single mothers.

IUI is a simple looking procedure but needs very good andrology lab facilities. It is cheap and cost effective if done at a good infertility centre. So, when looking for a Fertility hospital in Jaipur, always choose a centre where there are facilities of andrology lab and semen preparation.

Before the procedure, your doctor will advise you to give some tests to ensure IUI is the right treatment for you. Basic workup includes few hormone tests on second or third day of menstrual cycle, tube testing with SSG or HSG to ensure that the fallopian tubes are open. Also, husband is tested for sperm counts and motility, a detailed semen evaluation is needed. To get semen testing, always choose some IVF clinic in Jaipurwhere facilities of andrology lab are present and there is andrologist / embryologist available. Try to avoid testing in outside labs. Also, try to avoid semen preparation at one centre and procedure at other centre as sperms will get destroyed in transit.

Being a pioneer IVF hospital in Jaipur, we have a vast experience of IUI and IVF procedures. Going by the pain scores as told by our patients, most of the women found it very simple and easy. Only a few complained of discomfort. Again it depends on both experience of fertility doctor and pain tolerance of the female patient.

Cost of IUI depends on various factors, including the medicines used for ovulation induction, whether one or two IUI are performed in one cycle. Overall it is much cheaper than IVF with reasonably good results over 3-4 cycles.

Complications or Risks with IUI

There is no medicine or procedure that is without any side effects, overall it is a safe procedure without any long term risks or side effects. If not monitored carefully, however, a patient can hyper stimulate and there can be a risk of accumulation of extra fluid in body. Because of more number of eggs, sometimes, a patient can also have multiple pregnancies like twins, the chances of which are 5-7 %. If not done at a good centre, where sterile precautions are not followed, a woman can have uterus infection.