EmbryoGlue
EmbryoGlue® is an embryo culture medium enriched with a substance called hyaluronan used in the final step of IVF treatment.
How is EmbyroGlue® used in treatment?
What are the side effects and risks?
There are no known risks from the use of EmbryoGlue® but, based on our experience, we don’t place hatched blastocysts (embryos which have emerged or are emerging from their outer shell) before transfer into EmbryoGlue.
HFEA Comment: What is the evidence for EmbryoGlue®?
The independent regulator of fertility treatment, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), has developed a ‘red-amber-green’ rating system and provides information on their website about treatments that are offered on top of your routine fertility treatment – known as treatment add-ons. They consider that the only way to be confident that a treatment is effective enough to be used routinely is to carry out a randomised controlled trial (RCT). In an RCT, patients are assigned randomly to two groups: a treatment group, given the new treatment and a control group, given a well-tried treatment or a placebo.
The HFEA has given EmbryoGlue® an amber rating because there is only one high quality study which shows that the use of hyaluronan enriched medium improves live birth rates: other studies are only of moderate quality and further high-quality studies are needed to prove the effectiveness of the treatment. CARE’s own experience of EmbryoGlue® is that it does not have a proven benefit. The HFEA raises no concerns about the safety of EmbryoGlue®
We believe it is important that you have all the information you need before you decide to have treatment using EmbryoGlue®. We also recommend that you read the information on the HFEA website before making a decision