Is egg retrieval painful?

In vitro fertilization has become an increasingly mature technology, so many women with poor fertility choose to have in vitro fertilization. In vitro fertilization mainly combines sperm and egg into a fertilized egg in vitro, and then implants it into the female body. Therefore, before doing IVF, doctors will remove eggs from the woman's body. But will the egg retrieval process cause pain to women?

Is the egg retrieval process painful?

Egg retrieval is performed under semi-anesthesia, and the entire egg retrieval time is usually about 8-16 minutes. During the whole process, the egg donor volunteers will not feel much pain depending on each person's body shape. After the retrieval, they will feel a little bloated in the abdomen.

Since 1978, when laparoscopic egg retrieval was first used, egg retrieval technology has made great progress, from transcutaneous bladder and transurethral bladder under abdominal ultrasound guidance to modern transvaginal ultrasound egg retrieval. This relatively simple and safe method improves the efficiency of egg retrieval, can be performed under local anesthesia, and can be combined with various assisted reproductive technologies (ART).

These advances are made possible by continued improvements in ultrasound technology. Small vaginal ultrasound probes are now available, such as 5 MHz or 7.5 MHz vaginal probes, which have high resolution and are relatively comfortable for patients to use. High resolution helps to accurately identify and locate follicles. By simply rotating the probe, the shape of the follicle is determined in the two-dimensional image, and the low-echo follicles are distinguished from the equally low-echo pelvic blood vessels. In this way, each follicle can be accurately aspirated, greatly improving the egg retrieval rate and reducing women's discomfort.

What is the egg retrieval process like?

1. Mature egg: There is a small cell in the perivitelline space under the zona pellucida, called the first polar body, which is released by the egg. The release of the first polar body is an indicator of egg maturation.

2. Immature eggs: There are two different stages of immature eggs. One type is that there is no first polar body in the perivitelline space under the zona pellucida, but there is an obvious nucleus in the egg, called the germinal vesicle. This type of egg is called the germinal vesicle stage egg, which is the earliest immature egg. The other type is that there is no first polar body in the perivitelline space of the egg, and there is no obvious nucleus in the egg. This is an immature egg between the germinal vesicle stage egg and the mature egg. Immature eggs cannot be used for fertilization and must wait until they are fully mature before they can be used for fertilization.

3. Overmature eggs: The eggs must be fertilized after they mature. The time from egg maturation to fertilization is generally 5-6 hours. If fertilization is not achieved within this time frame, the egg will begin to age and eventually die. Since the follicles are of different sizes when the eggs are retrieved, the maturity stages of the eggs cannot be at the same time. If it takes too long, or if the egg stays outside the body too long before fertilization, it will cause the egg to overmature. Although overmature eggs can be fertilized, the quality of the embryos produced will be poor, and it will be difficult to achieve pregnancy after embryo transplantation.

4. Abnormal eggs: Some eggs are much larger than normal eggs in volume, and have two first polar bodies in the perivitelline space. The chromosomes of such eggs are abnormal, usually with two sets of chromosomes, and therefore they cannot be used for fertilization. Some eggs may have abnormal morphology in the cells at a certain stage of maturation, such as vacuoles, blackening of the texture, etc. These are signs of poor egg quality.

At this point, the egg retrieval procedure is over, and the doctor will take out the frozen or fresh semen, fertilize it, and implant it into the body of the woman who wants to become pregnant, and it will eventually mature in the mother's uterus.