Endometrial compaction after human chorionic gonadotrophin administration reduces ectopic pregnancy rate following fresh embryo transfer in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles in patients with non-thin endometrium: a retrospective cohort study

Background This study aims to study whether the change of endometrial thickness between the day of human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) administration and the day of embryo transfer (ET) has any effect on ectopic pregnancy (EP) rate following fresh in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI) cycles. Methods This study retrospectively analyzed 3134 patients who underwent fresh IVF/ICSI ET, including 3022 intrauterine, 112 ectopic cycles. Multiple logistic regression analysis and stratified analysis were used to study the effect of endometrial compaction after HCG administration on EP in patients with non-thin endometrium after adjusting for confounding factors. Results After adjusting for confounders, multiple logistic regression analysis found that the risk of EP in the compaction group was significantly lower than that in the non-compaction group (OR = 0.49; 95% CI: 0.31–0.78; P = 0.0023). The results of the stratified analysis demonstrated the EP rate in patients with an endometrial thickness ≥ 8 mm on the day of ET; the compaction group significantly reduced the incidence of EP (OR = 0.49; 95% CI: 0.31–0.79; P = 0.0036). In patients with an endometrial thickness ≥ 8 mm on the day of ET, the incidence of EP had no statistical significance in two group (OR = 1.02; 95% CI: 0.18–5.88; P = 9790). Conclusion(s) In patients with non-thin endometrium, endometrial thickness compaction from the day of HCG to the ET day reduced the risk of EP significantly.