BackgroundTransvaginal ultrasound-guided oocyte retrieval is required for assisted reproductive technology.This is a short and minimally invasive, but painful procedure.There are no clinical guidelines on optimal pain management.We aimed to identify risk factors for acute postprocedural pain to help target individualized prevention strategies. MethodsWe conducted a one-year retrospective cohort study (June 30, 2023 to June 30, 2024) at Montpellier University Hospital (France), comparing clinical and procedural characteristics with post-procedural pain.Data were classified as patient-, anesthesia-, and procedurerelated variables.The primary outcome was post-procedural pain, defined as a maximal NRS >3 or requirement for rescue analgesia within 4h.The secondary outcome was moderate to severe post-procedural pain, defined as a maximal NRS >5 or morphine consumption within 4h. ResultsA total of 1000 oocyte retrieval procedures were included.Post-procedural pain was observed in 608 of 986 patients (61.66%) and moderate to severe pain in 227 of 982 patients (23.12%), based on available outcome data.Independent risk factors for post-procedural pain (n =969) were age (OR 0.96, P =0.020), pre-procedural pain (OR 5.84, P <0.001) and procedure duration (OR 1.07, P <0.001).For moderate to severe pain (n =816), independent risk factors were pre-procedural pain (OR 4.12, P <0.001), endometriosis (OR 2.23, P <0.001), anti-Mullerian hormone levels (OR 1.11, P =0.009) and procedure duration (OR 1.05, P =0.001). ConclusionsYounger age, pre-procedural pain, procedure duration, endometriosis and high basal anti-Mullerian hormone levels are risk factors and should prompt prophylactic strategies for post-procedural pain management.
Grey et al. (Sun,) studied this question.