Results from studies reporting the optimal stimulation duration of IVF-ICSI cycles are inconsistent. The aim of this study was to determine whether, in the presence of early ovulation-triggering criteria, prolonged ovarian stimulation modified the chances of a live birth. This cross-sectional study included 312 women presenting triggering criteria beginning from D8 of ovarian stimulation. Among the 312 women included in the study, 135 were triggered for ovulation before D9 (D ≤ nine group) and 177 after D9 (D > nine group). The issues of fresh +/− frozen embryo transfers were taken into consideration. Cumulative clinical pregnancy and live-birth rates after fresh +/− frozen embryo transfers were similar in both groups (37% versus 46.9%, p = 0.10 and 19.3% versus 28.2%, p = 0.09, respectively). No patient characteristics were found to be predictive of a live birth depending on the day of ovulation trigger. Postponing of ovulation trigger did not impact pregnancy or live-birth rates in early responders. A patient’s clinical characteristics should not influence the decision process of ovulation trigger day in early responders. Further prospective studies should be conducted to support these findings.
Keywords: in vitro fertilisation; live-birth rate; ovulation trigger; pregnancy outcome; stimulation duration.