Beneficial effect of adding pentoxifylline to processed semen samples on ICSI outcome in infertile males with mild and moderate asthenozoospermia: A randomized controlled prospective crossover study

Background: No extensive studies were done that included the use of pentoxifylline or verify its effect on the outcome of ICSI in cases of mild and moderate asthenozoospermia. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of pentoxifylline used in preparation of semen samples which doesn't need motility enhancement prior to ICSI. Materials and Methods: The study was carried on 30 infertile patients where pentoxifylline was used for semen processing (group I), another 30 patients without pentoxifylline (group II) in addition to 60 infertile patients where crossing over of the semen sample was done further subdividing it into 2 subgroups in which the first half of the semen sample was incubated with pentoxifylline (group IIIA) and the second half of the sample without pentoxifylline (group IIIB). Results: The numbers of oocytes injected, numbers of oocytes fertilized, fertilization rate, the total numbers of embryos, numbers of good embryos and the numbers of embryos transferred of group IIIA were found significantly higher than that of Group IIIB (p=0.00). The overall 6 month pregnancy rate of group I was significantly higher than that of group II (73.3% vs. 60% respectively, p=0.04). The abortion rate of (Group I) and that of (Group II) was found non – significantly different (20% vs. 27.8% respectively, p=0.53). Conclusion: Pentoxifylline can be used as a useful compound for improving ICSI outcome in semen samples preparation prior to oocytes injection regardless of the state of sperm motility or the degree of asthenozoospermia. Registration ID in Clinical Trials.gov: NCT01793272