The effect of nasal oxytocin on pregnancy rates following intrauterine insemination: double-blind, randomized, clinical pilot study.

PURPOSE: We tested the hypothesis that the application of intranasal oxytocin (8 IU) following intrauterine insemination (IUI) would increase pregnancy rates, without causing major side effects.

METHODS

Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study: eighty-six couples with idiopathic infertility, polycystic ovary syndrome and/or male sub-fertility treated with 132 homologous IUI cycles with nasal application of placebo or 8 IU oxytocin following IUI.

RESULTS

In 132 IUI cycles of 86 women, 17 pregnancies were achieved, accounting for a pregnancy rate of 12.9% (17/132) per IUI cycle. The pregnancy rates were 13.4% (9/67) per IUI cycle in the placebo group, and 12.3% (8/65) per IUI cycle in the oxytocin group, the difference not being statistically significant. No relevant side effects were observed in both groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Intranasal application of 8 IU oxytocin has no major side effects but at the same time did not affect pregnancy rates after IUI in our population. This study does not exclude that a larger patient group, a different time interval between oxytocin application and IUI, higher or multiple oxytocin applications or a different mode of application would have achieved different effects on pregnancy rates.