Hysteroscopy for Infertility: How It Can Help You on Your Family-Building Journey

June 27, 2024

The desire to conceive may bring a lot of enthusiasm accompanied by added pressure. The journey towards getting pregnant may be up an interesting and emotional roller-coaster. With conception, it may take a little longer than expected and is entirely reasonable to seek out all possibilities. If you have been struggling with infertility problems, your specialist may suggest you go through hysteroscopy. But first, let us consider one more type of operation – hysteroscopy for infertility, and how it can be helpful.

What is Hysteroscopy?

It is a surgery that is very complicated and makes it possible for a surgeon to analyse the uterus endoscopically. A thin, flexible tube that contains a light source is called a hysteroscope, inserted through the vagina and cervix to diagnose the uterine cavity. In the process, your doctor can also utilise minor tools to diagnose or even make some corrections.

How Hysteroscopy Can Be Effective in Treating Infertility?

Hysteroscopy procedure offers a chance of correcting the abnormality in the uterus which may be the cause for the couple’s infertility and hence acts as an advantage to the process. Here is how:

• Diagnosis: A hysteroscopy will reveal the other factors that lead to implantation problems in the uterus such as polyps, fibroid, scar tissues (adhesions), or uterine septum, a partition in the uterus.
• Treatment: At times, hysteroscopy can be used as a procedure or therapy for addressing the issue that has been identified. For example, if one has polyps or fibroids, they can be treated and removed during the surgery, and where a woman has tear or scarred cervix, surgery can correct them.
• Improved Implantation: A hysteroscopy means that you need to have shaved or removed some of the tissues that may be preventing the uterus from being fertilised with the egg hence leading to pregnancy.

Who Needs Hysteroscopy?

If you have been experiencing challenges getting pregnant, your doctor might recommend a hysteroscopy to you have: Here is the list of conditions that can lead to recommending a hysteroscopy to you or your partner:

• Unexplained infertility: This means that conception occurs in a couple who have been taken through some initial over-the-counter fertility tests in an attempt to see if any barriers to conception can be observed.

• Recurrent pregnancy loss: In case you experienced one or multiple cases of miscarriages.

• Abnormal uterine bleeding: It may be due to polyps, fibroids or any other growths within the body for example.

• Suspected uterine malformations: If the ultrasound has any issue to do with the shape and structure of the uterus such as the presence of a septum which is the walls dividing the cavity or a bicornuate uterus which is heart-shaped, then hysteroscopy can be a much better solution to the given situation since it is capable of confirming the presence of the problem.

• Endometrial polyps or fibroids detected on scans: However, polyps and fibroids can be seen with ultrasounds, nevertheless, through hysteroscopy, one can determine the size, position and whether or not they prevent implantation. It also allows it to be shaved off in the same surgery if it has to be shaved in the same location.

What does the Hysteroscopy Mean and what is the Process like?

A hysteroscopy procedure is usually performed with minimal intrusion within hospital premises without the need for general anaesthesia or pain relievers. What follows next is a general outline of what you can expect; Here is a general outline on what to expect;

• Preliminary steps: You may be instructed to avoid eating anything and avoid taking any fluids completely before having this intervention;
  
• The Process: You will be sitting or lying on what seems like a couch during this particular process suggested above. She might take sterile fluid to fill the uterus to have a better view of the CFB.
  
• Recovery: Following the procedure, you might experience mild cramping or spotting for a day or two. Most women can resume normal activities relatively soon after the hysteroscopy.

Hysteroscopy for Infertility: Benefits and Risks

• Cervical preparation: There are some situations in which your doctor will suggest softening or dilating your cervix before the procedure with medication or with the help of a small tool. This is typically done several hours before the process to facilitate the placement of a hysteroscopy in the uterus.
• Monitoring: While undergoing hysteroscopy, your doctor may use other instrumentation for matters of observation. These could include small video and photographic cameras as well as needle-sized instruments for taking biopsies if required.

Benefits:

• Minimally invasive procedure with a short recovery time.
• Offers a direct view of the uterine cavity, allowing for accurate diagnosis of abnormalities.
• Can sometimes be used to treat certain uterine conditions during the same procedure.
• Can potentially improve fertility outcomes by addressing implantation issues.

Risks:

Some possible complications mentioned include a low risk of an infection, bleeding, or cervical or uterine injury. These dangers can be reduced by employing a clean, new supply of equipment and strictly adhering to appropriate protocols.

• Discomfort or cramping during the procedure: During the procedure, some people can have a little pain like that of the menstrual cramps. This is usually aversive with the aid of medication.
  
• Anaesthetic risks: However, if local anaesthesia or light sedation is applied, the risks are not so severe. Nevertheless, like any other drug, the possibility of an allergic reaction exists but is rather rare. To avoid any complications during the process, it is essential to inform the doctor of any allergy or insecurity beforehand.
  
• Incomplete procedure: Sometimes, the cervix fails to dilate adequately, and this can hamper the view of the doctor; scar tissue might also restrict the visibility of some parts of the uterus. This may require the procedure to be delayed or the use of other methods to review the findings.

Important Considerations

Hysteroscopy for infertility is not dangerous to the patient and is quite advantageous and may be used in diagnosing and treating some of the pathological abnormalities found in the uterus that might be a cause of infertility. However, it is not a magic pill for all the challenges that life throws at people. For example which quick questions that you want to pose to your doctor about your suitability for hysteroscopy, or a condition that occurred in your past?

Felicity: The Gateway to Better Fertility Health

Hysteroscopy for infertility can be very useful in the diagnosis or elimination of various causes with your doctor. From the procedure, the physician gets a clear view of the interior of the uterus and can point out the possible causes of infertility as well as rectify most of them during the same procedure. They are in a position to offer you a bespoke insight that embraces your individual history of health and reproductive plan.

At Felicity IVF & Fertility Center, we know how stressful infertility can be and how and when it can be trying. We have been fortunate to assemble a team of devoted fertility physicians, who are committed to helping you achieve your goal of having a child. We perform a wide variety of diagnostic tests and treatments, from hysteroscopy to help you overcome infertility and have your baby. Please feel free to contact us today to engage in a consultation so that you can know the options for fertility treatment available for you.

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