What is EmbryoGlue?
EmbryoGlue is a medium developed for embryo transfer. It contains all the nutrients and energy sources required for embryo development together with a high concentration of hyaluronan.
Hyaluronan is a natural compound found in the body, which increases in the uterus at the time of implantation. It is thought that the high concentration of hyaluronan in the medium helps with implantation of the embryo.
When is EmbryoGlue used?
EmbryoGlue is the medium used to load your embryo(s) into the embryo transfer catheter. Once the catheter is positioned in your uterus, your embryo(s) is transferred with a small amount of the medium.
What is the cost of EmbryoGlue?
EmbryoGlue is used in all cycles at Newcastle Fertility Centre as standard practice and will not be charged as an ‘add-on’ to your treatment.
Why is EmbryoGlue classified as a ‘treatment add-on’ by the HFEA?
Treatments that are performed in addition to a routine basic IVF/ICSI cycle are known as treatment add-ons.
The HFEA has a traffic light system to provide a rating to treatment add-ons. Currently, EmbryoGlue is rated as ‘amber’ because there is only one high-quality study showing the medium may be effective at improving chances of having a baby.
Further high-quality studies are required to be confident that EmbryoGlue increases the chance of having a baby.
What are the risks of EmbryoGlue?
There are no known additional risks for the individual undergoing treatment or the child born.
Why did Newcastle Fertility Centre introduce EmbryoGlue?
Following assessment of all published evidence, we introduced EmbryoGlue into standard practice from July 2022.
The most recent Cochrane review of clinical trials found that using a medium enriched in hyaluronate probably increases the chance of a live birth from 33% to 40% within the clinical trial study populations.
There are no studies showing a negative impact of EmbryoGlue on treatment outcome.
If you wish to know more about our research, we would be happy to discuss this with you when you come to the clinic.
Contact
If you have any questions or concerns throughout your treatment, you can email the fertility nurses.
We do our best to answer your call as soon as possible, but we are a very busy service, so we may not always have someone available to speak with you immediately. If the line is engaged, please try again later or use the nurse email address above. The telephone line is often quieter in the afternoon.
Outside of these hours, there is an on-call doctor available to speak to in emergencies only on 0191 256 8240. The on-call doctor is not able to change clinic appointments or to answer general queries that are not urgent. These types of calls must be made during clinic opening hours.
For more urgent queries, our telephone line is open 8am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday
Patient feedback
We welcome your opinions and feedback on areas you feel have gone well or suggestions you may have to help us improve our service.
If you have any problems during your treatment or are unhappy with the care you are receiving please contact the Senior Sister (Stacey Turnbull) on 0191 213 8213.
Fertility treatment is sometimes upsetting and frustrating particularly when things do not go quite to plan or you do not get the outcome you had hoped for. Sometimes having a chat with us will help relieve some of the tension and frustrations you may be feeling. We are always willing to listen.
