Efficacy evaluation of low-dose aspirin in IVF/ICSI patients evidence from 13 RCTs A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of existing literature to evaluate the different outcomes of low-dose aspirin on patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), including clinical pregnancy rate, implantation rate, live birth rate, miscarriage rate, fertilization rate, number of oocytes retrieved, and so forth. Methods: Electronic databases including PubMed, MEDLINE, and Embase were searched between 1997 and March 2016 to identity eligible studies. The following comparisons between treatment groups were included: aspirin versus placebo; aspirin versus control group; aspirin versus aspirin+ prednisolone+ control. Results: Thirteen randomized controlled trials which included 3104 participants were selected. There were no significant differences in implantation rate (RR= 1.15; 95% CI= 0.78-1.70), live birth rate (RR= 1.06; 95% CI= 0.93-1.21), miscarriage rate (RR= 1.28; 95% CI= 0.93-1.77), fertilization rate (RR= 0.91; 95% CI= 0.75-1.11), and endometrial thickness (WMD= 0.15; 95% CI= -0.38-0.67). But the research showed that aspirin treatment may improve the clinical pregnancy rate (RR= 1.16; 95% CI= 1.04-1.28) compared to placebo or no treatment, and reduce the number of oocytes retrieved (WMD= -0.68; 95% CI= -0.91-0.46). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that low-dose aspirin may improve the pregnancy rate in IVF/ICSI, with the recommended clinical use dose of 100mg/day. Considering the limitation of included studies, further well-designed large-scaled RCTs are necessary to clarify whether aspirin may improve assisted reproduction outcomes in IVF/ICSI patients.