Study examines if timing of IVF to avoid weekend procedures affects pregnancy success

It's unclear whether there is a need to retrieve a woman's eggs on weekends, in connection with in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmatic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI) treatment in couples wishing to conceive. In a recent Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica study, scheduling of eggretrieval and single embryo transfer procedures only on weekdays did not result in reduced live-birth rates; however, delays of two days or longer may be unfavorable in some treatments.

The study included 1000 patients undergoing their first in IVF/ICSI with single-embryo transfer (SET).

"Our study supports that weekend work may not be needed for most IVF/ICSI treatments receiving SET at large IVF centers, such as ours; however, in IVF/ICSI treatments using short protocols with gonadotropin releasing hormone antagonists, the outcomes could be less favorable if delaying egg retrieval," said senior author Dr. Kenny Rodriguez-Wallberg, of the Karolinska Institute, in Sweden.