Treating Hydrosalpinx Infertility

What is a hydrosalpinx?

Hydrosalpinx is a collection of watery fluid within the fallopian tube, usually as a result of damage at the distal (far) end of the tube, near the ovary.

How does a hydrosalpinx form?

Just as your knee might swell when it is damaged or inflamed, the fluid pools in the damaged tube causing it to swell or dilate, as a natural part of healing from inflammation. Whether from a prior surgery, an inflammation or an infection, the delicate geography of the pelvis responds to these traumas by forming adhesions and often times a hydrosalpinx.

How does hydrosalpinx cause infertility?

In most cases, a hydrosalpinx indicates that the fallopian tube is totally blocked at the far end. There, the delicate flower petal-like fimbriae which are designed to grasp the egg as it exits the ovary become adhered or clubbed together, closing the tube completely. Hydrosalpinx is a serious threat to fertility. It not only renders the affected tube(s) totally ineffective, but it may also lessen the effectiveness of various infertility treatments (e.g. in vitro fertilization [IVF]).

How is hydrosalpinx treated?

Surgery

Neosalpingostomy (surgery that incises the hydrosalpinx and leaves an opening in the tube) is a surgical treatment option. The tube, however, often closes again enabling the hydrosalpinx to return. The most positive results are obtained with younger women and women with small hydrosalpinges. For others, the preferred treatment is usually total surgical removal of the tube prior to IVF.

The Wurn Technique

The Wurn Technique is a  non-surgical infertility treatment that uses pelvic physical therapy to decrease the adhesions causing tubal damage and hydrosalpinx. Once mobility is restored, the previously blocked tube(s) often regain normal function, creating a free path for conception to occur. Many women with a diagnosis of hydrosalpinx became pregnant naturally after receiving this hands-on therapy.