egg retrievalOocyte retrieval may be a painful experience for some women. A study review published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews claims no one pain relief method is better than another, but using multiple methods concurrently may reduce pain more effectively for some women.

Researchers reviewed 21 trials with information on nearly 3,000 women undergoing oocytes retrieval. For the sake of the study, five types of pain relief were tracked, including conscious sedation, placebo, acupuncture, paracervical black and patient-controlled sedation. No individual pain relief option stood out as being more effective than others.

Conclusion: Researchers believe pain relief should be a personalized choice that involves input from the patient and fertility doctor. No two women feel or cope with pain the same way creating a unique medical environment where pain relief must be personalized. It is important to note that using more than one method of pain relief resulted in improved outcomes.

Source: Kwan I, Bhattacharya S, Knox F, McNeil A. Pain relief for women undergoing oocyte retrieval for assisted reproduction. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013 Jan 31;1:CD004829. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD004829.pub3.