A Trial to Compare Three Methods of Performing Hysterosalpingography

A Prospective, Randomized Study to Compare the Efficacy and the Tolerability of Three Methods of Performing Hysterosalpingography

The purpose of this study is: to determine whether the choice of the device for performing hysterosalpingography on the basis of the cervix characteristics can reduce the procedure failure rate; to determine whether patient medical history is correlated with the degree of pain experienced during the HSG procedure.

A group of women will be randomized to undergo HSG, using 1) a balloon catheter in a first group of patients; 2) a cervical vacuum cup in a second group; 3) one of the two devices decided by the operator depending on the cervix characteristics in a third group (that will be named "operator's choice"). The operator will ask the woman to evaluate the degree of pain experienced during the application of the device and the injection of the contrast, after 2, 6 and 24 hours. The degree of pain will be evaluated using the VAS system, an analogue scale rating from 1 to 10. A nurse will notice the patient's reaction and will evaluate the pain, depending on the movements of the hands and the body and the woman's moaning. Moreover, the assistant will note down the personal data and the history of the patient. The operator will record the objective and subjective difficulty of the performance, using a rating scale from 0 to 9. The length of the procedure, the volume of contrast used, the amount of radiations and the time of exposure of the patient will also be considered. At the end of HSG both the gynaecologist and the radiologist will express their satisfaction upon the examination with a score from 0 to 10.

Balloon catheter, Cervical vacuum cup, Hysterosalpingography, Infertility, Pain, Fallopian Tube Patency Tests, Female Infertility

Hysterosalpingography is performed using either balloon catheter or cervical vacuum cup on the basis of the operator's choice

correlation between patient medical history and the degree of pain experienced during the HSG procedure

Inclusion Criteria: infertility Exclusion Criteria: hypersensitivity to iodine or radio-opaque contrast dye cervicitis genital bleeding genital malignancy