Purpose: To investigate the hypothesis that surgical treatment of endometriosis in infertile patients may improve pregnancy rates by improving embryo quality.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective evaluation of 30 infertile patients treated with in vitro fertilization (IVF) before and after surgery for endometriosis. Patients served as their own controls and only cycles with similar stimulation protocols were compared.
Results: Using standard visual evaluation, embryo quality on day 3 was similar before and after surgical treatment of endometriosis. Fifty seven percent of patients had stage I-II endometriosis and 43% had stage III-IV disease. No patients had a live birth after the first IVF cycle and 43% of patients had a live birth with the IVF cycle after surgery.
Conclusions: Surgical treatment of endometriosis does not alter embryo quality in patients with infertility treated with IVF.