A retrospective analysis of anonymous oocyte donation cycles, comparing the pregnancy outcomes between vaginally-administered progesterone versus intramuscular (IM) progesterone injections, demonstrates that vaginally-administered progesterone and IM progesterone achieve equal pregnancy outcomes, according to data presented by Brian Berger, MD, Boston IVF, at the Pacific Coast Reproductive Society annual meeting.
The retrospective study was supported by a grant from Columbia Laboratories Inc.
“We found no significant differences in pregnancy outcomes between patients treated with vaginal progesterone versus progesterone administered intramuscularly,” said Dr Berger. “Further, vaginal progesterone has the added advantage of avoiding painful intramuscular injections.”
In 225 egg donor cycles, 105 patients received vaginally-administered progesterone (Crinone 8% (a bioadhesive progesterone gel) and 120 received IM progesterone.
The implantation rate was 43.8% for vaginal progesterone versus 37.1% for IM progesterone (p=0.175).
Recipients treated with vaginal progesterone achieved a 58.1% pregnancy rate and a 51.4% delivery rate, versus a 53.3% pregnancy rate (p=0.503) and a 48.3% delivery rate (p=0.689) for patients receiving IM progesterone.
The pregnancy loss rate was 10.5% for patients using vaginal progesterone and 10.8% for IM progesterone users (p=1.00).
“This study clearly demonstrates that vaginal progesterone gel achieves the same pregnancy outcomes as progesterone administered via an intramuscular injection. This is important confirmation that Crinone 8% offers patients an efficacious and more convenient option for providing progesterone support in infertility treatment,” Berger added.
