Today, another patient with ovarian hyperstimulation was admitted to the hospital. When I met her in the elevator, I thought she was a full-term pregnant woman giving birth in the hospital, with a big belly and swaying from side to side. After arriving at the ward, Dr. Ren told me that she was a patient with ovarian hyperstimulation 21 days after embryo transfer, and that she had been treated for a week at an outside hospital, but the results were not good, so she came to our hospital for comprehensive treatment.
Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome is a medically induced disease. It occurs when ovulation is induced by drugs and is characterized by nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, bloating, weight gain, ovarian enlargement, fluid accumulation in the chest and abdomen, oliguria, disturbance of water-electrolyte balance, thrombosis, and even multi-organ failure, which can be life-threatening in severe cases. Chen Ping, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan College of Traditional Chinese Medicine
According to the patient’s symptoms and signs, it belongs to the category of Y obstruction, Zi fullness, Zi swelling (pregnancy edema), Zi hanging (pregnancy combined with hydrothorax), and pregnancy abdominal pain in Chinese medicine, which are evidence of spleen deficiency and blood stasis. Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome is the focus of research in our department at present, and we have formed a comprehensive use of Chinese medicine treatment, mainly based on evidence-based treatment, combined with the special diet therapy for this disease, with remarkable efficacy. Early intervention treatment effectively interrupts the development of the disease; in severe cases, it reduces the accumulation of fluid in the chest and abdomen within a short period of time, relieves nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, abdominal distension, oliguria and other symptoms, and effectively prevents disorders of water-electrolyte balance, thrombosis, and even multi-organ failure.
The treatment cost is reduced by 70-80% by using Chinese herbal medicine to activate blood circulation and remove blood stasis drugs intravenously by drip, and Chinese herbal medicine to strengthen the spleen and promote water circulation orally with diet therapy, while avoiding possible infections brought by blood products, with high cure rate and without affecting pregnancy outcome.
In recent years, our department has admitted many patients of this type, and the combination of Chinese and Western medicine treatment is effective and reduces the patient’s hospitalization cost, reduces or does not use human albumin, reduces the number of punctures to release chest fluid and ascites, and reduces the occurrence of infection. Most articles and experts say that patients with mild ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome do not need treatment, but based on our treatment experience, we advocate early intervention to avoid complications and tricky treatment when it develops into severe.