{"title":"Low to non-existent sperm content of pre-ejaculate in perfect-use contraceptive withdrawal, a pilot study.","authors":"Jasmine Patel, Anita L Nelson, Brian T Nguyen","doi":"10.1016/j.contraception.2024.110555","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>To assess pregnancy risk following perfect use of the withdrawal method by quantification of sperm in pre-ejaculate.</p><p><strong>Study design: </strong>We conducted a pilot study of sperm and factors linked to its presence in pre-ejaculate samples among healthy, reproductive-age, withdrawal-experienced men. Participants provided up to three paired pre-ejaculate and ejaculate specimens in 72-hour intervals. We analyzed samples for volume, consistency, sperm concentration, count, and motility. We set clinical pregnancy risk as our primary outcome, defined as sperm concentration >1million/mL.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>From 70 paired samples (N = 24 participants, median age: 27 years), we identified sperm in nine (12.9%) pre-ejaculate samples, from six (25.0%) participants. Only seven samples contained sperm in concentrations of significant clinical pregnancy risk. All ejaculatory specimens contained motile sperm in concentrations of significant pregnancy risk.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>In this study of the pre-ejaculate of perfect-use withdrawal users, motile sperm were usually absent, or found inconsistently and in insufficient quantities to confer significant clinical pregnancy risk.</p><p><strong>Implications: </strong>While correct and consistent withdrawal use is likely to be highly effective, given that motile sperm in concentrations >1 million/mL are usually absent or inconsistently present in pre-ejaculate, clinical trial data is lacking.</p>","PeriodicalId":93955,"journal":{"name":"Contraception","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Contraception","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.contraception.2024.110555","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective: To assess pregnancy risk following perfect use of the withdrawal method by quantification of sperm in pre-ejaculate.
Study design: We conducted a pilot study of sperm and factors linked to its presence in pre-ejaculate samples among healthy, reproductive-age, withdrawal-experienced men. Participants provided up to three paired pre-ejaculate and ejaculate specimens in 72-hour intervals. We analyzed samples for volume, consistency, sperm concentration, count, and motility. We set clinical pregnancy risk as our primary outcome, defined as sperm concentration >1million/mL.
Results: From 70 paired samples (N = 24 participants, median age: 27 years), we identified sperm in nine (12.9%) pre-ejaculate samples, from six (25.0%) participants. Only seven samples contained sperm in concentrations of significant clinical pregnancy risk. All ejaculatory specimens contained motile sperm in concentrations of significant pregnancy risk.
Conclusion: In this study of the pre-ejaculate of perfect-use withdrawal users, motile sperm were usually absent, or found inconsistently and in insufficient quantities to confer significant clinical pregnancy risk.
Implications: While correct and consistent withdrawal use is likely to be highly effective, given that motile sperm in concentrations >1 million/mL are usually absent or inconsistently present in pre-ejaculate, clinical trial data is lacking.