Taking aspirin is unlikely to help women undergoing in vitro fertilisation, according to an analysis published today.
It has been proposed that taking low-dose aspirin may improve blood flow to the uterus and boost response to IVF. But the research results are inconsistent. Some studies have shown that aspirin improves pregnancy rates while others have shown no benefit or a slightly increased rate of miscarriage.
A new review in the latest issue of The Cochrane Library looked at the findings on this topic since the previous review was published in 2007. It includes evidence from a total of 13 trials involving 2,653 women.
Only three trials reported the rate of live births, the others only reported pregnancies and sometimes miscarriage rate.
According to the updated review, women taking aspirin while undergoing IVF were not significantly more likely to become pregnant than women taking a placebo or no treatment.
One study suggested some benefit, but overall the review did not find "compelling evidence" to support the routine use of aspirin. To be persuasive, there would need to be a large trial showing a clear benefit, say Dr Charalambos Siristatidis of the University of Athens, Greece, and colleagues.
Dr Siristatidis said: "Couples undergoing IVF often feel so desperate that they are prepared to try anything that may improve their chances of conceiving. But given the current evidence, there is still no basis to recommend that women take aspirin to help them become pregnant.
"It was disappointing to see that so few of the studies reported live birth rate as this is ultimately the outcome all couples undergoing IVF are interested in," Dr Siristatidis added. "The lack of information on miscarriage rate is also concerning given previous studies that have linked higher doses of aspirin to miscarriage."
Siristatidis, C. S., Dodd, S. R. and Drakeley, A. J. Aspirin for in vitro fertilisation. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2011, Issue 8.
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