Experience of tubal surgery for infertility at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

The magnitude of fallopian tube disease and their contribution to infertility in Nigeria and in Africa are gross among the cohorts of women presenting with difficulty in childbearing. The objective of the study is to assess the trend and pattern of tubal disease in infertility and pregnancy rate among patients undergoing tubal surgery at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex. A descriptive retrospective study of all cases of tubal disease in infertility who admitted for surgery between January 1st 1993 and December 31st, 2000 at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex. There were 6144 infertile women among 29,011 females of reproductive age group attending the hospital during the study period giving an overall incidence of infertility of 21.2%. Among this group, 1352(22%) were due to tubal disease. One hundred and twenty five (125) of these patients showed up for surgery and thirteen pregnancies were recorded giving an overall pregnancy rate of 10.8%. About one in four of these patients had had previous tubal surgery for infertility. Salopingolysis had the best pregnancy rate with about 19.3% success. Tubal disease is a common cause of infertility in South Western Nigeria and success rates following surgery are low. We advocate the establishment of regional fertility centres as a cost effective way of improving access to modern assisted conception techniques.