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Does Bariatric Surgery Improve Assisted Reproductive Technology Outcomes in Obese Infertile Women?

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Abstract

Background

Little is known about the impact of bariatric surgery on obese infertile women seeking an assisted reproductive technology.

Methods

All obese women with a history of assisted reproductive technology (ART) failure that underwent ART treatment cycles both prior to and following bariatric surgery were included. ART outcomes were compared evaluating the duration and dose of gonadotrophins used; the measurement of day 3 FSH; the anti-mullerian hormone dosage; the number of follicles >15 mm; the number of retrieved and fertilized oocytes; the number of metaphase II, metaphase I and germinal vesicle oocytes; the number of embryos obtained; the number of top-quality oocytes and embryos; the number of transferred embryo; the pregnancy rate and the live birth rate.

Results

Forty women were included. The total number of gonadotropin units required and in the length of stimulation following bariatric surgery decreased (p = .001), with an increase of the number of follicles ≥15 mm (p = .005), of retrieved oocytes (p = .004), of top-quality oocytes (p = .001) and metaphase II oocytes (p = .008). More oocytes were fertilized (4.2 ± 1.7 vs 5.3 ± 2.4; p = .02). After surgery, we have registered also a better number of top-quality embryos (0.5 ± 0.6 vs 1.1 ± 0.9; p = .003). Pregnancy rate following the bariatric surgery increased to 15/40 (37.5%) (p < .001), and live birth rate (LBR) increased to 14/40 (35%) in the post-surgery group (p<. 001).

Conclusions

Although additional research would be useful to draw definitive conclusion, our results appear to be encouraging enough to suggest the use of bariatric surgery in obese infertile women seeking an ART treatment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgical Specialities and Nephrology, University of Naples “Federico II”, Via Pansini 5, 80131, Naples, Italy

    Marco Milone, Michele Manigrasso, Mario Musella & Francesco Milone

  2. Embryos Fertility Center, Battipaglia, Salerno, Italy

    Loredana M. Sosa Fernandez & Laura V. Sosa Fernandez

  3. Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy

    Ugo Elmore

  4. Department of Surgery and Advanced Technologies, University of Naples “Federico II”, Naples, Italy

    Giovanni D. De Palma

Authors
  1. Marco Milone
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  2. Loredana M. Sosa Fernandez
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  3. Laura V. Sosa Fernandez
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  4. Michele Manigrasso
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  5. Ugo Elmore
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  6. Giovanni D. De Palma
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  7. Mario Musella
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  8. Francesco Milone
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marco Milone.

Ethics declarations

For this type of study, formal consent is not required.

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Financial Support

None.

Conflict of Interest

All the authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Milone M and Sosa Fernandez LM: conception, design, interpretation data and drafting the article; Sosa Fernandez LV, Manigrasso M and Elmore U: acquisition, analysis and interpretation of data; Musella M and De Palma GD: interpretation of data and revising it critically; F. Milone: revising it critically and final approval.

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Fig. 1
figure 1

Patients included in the study

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Milone, M., Sosa Fernandez, L.M., Sosa Fernandez, L.V. et al. Does Bariatric Surgery Improve Assisted Reproductive Technology Outcomes in Obese Infertile Women?. OBES SURG 27, 2106–2112 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-017-2614-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-017-2614-9

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