Background: The use of GnRH antagonists in IVF treatment has many advantages over agonist long down-regulation, yet its uptake has been hampered by an inability to program the start date for gonadotrophin stimulation so as to minimize weekend oocyte retrievals (ORs). In this study, we retrospectively analyzed whether conducting a strict Monday to Friday OR program impacts on IVF outcomes.
Methods: A total of 1642 non-programmed IVF antagonist cycles were analyzed to determine if advancing or delaying the OR by 1 day from 'ideal' to avoid Saturday or Sunday OR, respectively, had any impact on IVF outcomes. The IVF outcomes of Tuesday to Thursday served as a control as no modification in OR timing was required on these days.
Results: Advancing the OR by 1 day from the ideal resulted in a small but significant decrease in the number of oocytes collected and embryos created. Delaying the OR by 1 day from ideal resulted in a small increase in the number of oocytes collected and embryos created. However, deviation from the ideal day of OR had no significant effect on live birth rates.
Conclusions: It is possible to safely avoid weekend ORs during GnRH antagonist cycles by simply advancing an ideal Saturday OR to Friday, and delaying an ideal Sunday OR to Monday, without adversely impacting on IVF live birth outcomes.