What is a hysterosalpingogram?

  Under the leadership of Director Pan Zhimei, our department has been conducting hysterosalpingography (HSG) for nearly 20 years. Hysterosalpingography is a technique in which the hysterosalpingography catheter is placed against the external opening of the cervix and lightly pushed to inject the contrast agent to visualize the uterine cavity and both fallopian tubes. During the procedure, the patient only feels a slight soreness and swelling in the lower abdomen. Because the procedure is performed without entering the uterine cavity, the procedure is reduced, saving examination time and reducing the chance of infection in the uterine cavity. In addition, because the pain is reduced in this way, pseudo-obstruction of the fallopian tubes due to excessive tension and muscle spasm in the patient basically does not occur. Many hospitals use the traditional method of uterine tubal examination, in which a balloon catheter is placed into the uterine cavity and the balloon is inflated and injected with iodine water under pressure. This method can cause very great pain to the patient, and the pain can cause mental tension and cramps to the patient, which in turn can lead to false positive test results of bilateral tubal obstruction in some patients with clear tubes, making it impossible for the patient to find the true cause of infertility. Some patients even undergo combined hysterolaparoscopy to explore the uterine tubes for further examination, which can cause further damage to the body. In addition, the traditional operation requires uterine cavity manipulation, which in many patients produces iodine water retrograde into the myometrium and parametrial vessels, while increasing the patient’s symptoms such as allergy, pain, postoperative bleeding, transient hypoglycemia and hypotension, and increasing the risk of uterine infection.