Abstract

Background:Living as an involuntarily childless woman is challenging for feminity and female roles in society. Infertility affects about 10-15% of reproductive age couples. WHO estimates that 60-80 million couples worldwide currently suffer from infertility. The causes of female infertility are multifactorial and necessitate comprehensive evaluation. Laparoscopy with chromopertubation is viewed as the “gold standard” test for tubal assessment. Adding Hysteroscopy to the procedure allows for concomitant evaluation of intrauterine cavity. With this preview, my study aims at evaluating the role of diagnostic hystero-laparoscopy as a safe & cost- effective tool for assessment of unexplained female infertility.
Materials and Methods: An observational hospital based study on 260 patients was carried out in a tertiary care centerDr. PSIMS &RF, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India -over a period of 2.5 years from October 2019 to April 2022. Women aged 18-40yr with normal hormone profile without male factor infertility were included.
Results: Out of 260 cases, 60.93% patients had primary infertility. PCOS was found to be the most commonly associated with primary infertility. Whereas the most common causes of secondary infertility were found to be PID, endometriosis and endometrial polyps each respectively. Hysterolaparoscopy revealed intrauterine lesions and therapeutic measures like ovarian drilling, lysis of intrauterineadhesions, cystectomy, polypectomy and septal resection were carried out.
Conclusion: Hysterolaparoscopy is an effective diagnostic tool for evaluation of correctable tuboperitoneal pathologies like endometriosis, polycystic ovaries, adnexal pathologies and subseptate uterus which are usually missed by other imaging modalities. When done by a trained and experienced investigator and with proper selection of patients, hysterolaparoscopy proves to be a definitive investigative procedure for evaluation of female infertility. It also helps in formulation of a treatment modality.