Influence of Catheter Type and Tenaculum Use on Intrauterine Insemination Outcome

Background: We investigated the impact of the choice of catheter type and tenaculum use on pregnancy related outcomes in intrauterine insemination (IUI) treatments. Materials and Methods: A total of 338 consecutive IUI cycles were assessed in this retrospective study. Participants were divided according to the insemination technique - soft catheter (group 1; n=175), firm catheter (group 2; n=100), or tenaculum (group 3; n=63). Clinical, laboratory, semen parameters and pregnancy related outcomes were compared. Results: Demographic characteristics and laboratory parameters were similar between the groups (P 0.05). The clinical pregnancy rate (CPR) was significantly higher in the firm catheter (19%, 19/100) and tenaculum (31.7%, 20/63) groups compared to the soft catheter group (5.1%, 9/175, P 0.001). There were no significant differences between the groups in live birth and miscarriage rates per clinical pregnancy (P 0.05). Conclusion: Our findings indicate that the use of a firm catheter or tenaculum for IUI might result in a higher CPR, but might not have a considerable effect on the live birth rate (LBR). Further prospective randomized studies are required to determine the long-term effects of the catheter type or tenaculum use on IUI success.