What is an SSG?

Hi all,
I am a newbie and just posted on the intro forum. Then found this one and thought I might get more help here.
I have been TTC for 13 months (? cycles) for baby 2 with no luck. I recently went to a FS (who was not very helpful at all) and now I am going to have a SSG. Has anyone had this and how does it differ from a HSG? I know they use saline instead of dye but don't know what it can show up. Not sure why FS decided to do this instead of HSG. Can't find any info on the net so thought someone here might be able to help.

Thanks
SusanT

Susan,

Welcome to BB and I hope your stay in the TTC forums is short.

I'm not sure why your FS would chose an SSG over a HSG, though my understanding is that they both do the same thing?

If it's bugging you though, call him and ask. You're paying him after all! A lot of FSs tend to speak 'to' us rather to 'with' us, so it helps to be a little assertive sometimes. ;)

Hi!
An SSG is done by Ultrasound scan, and HSG is done by an XRay. Either allow to check for normal shaped uterus, and open tubes. SSG is the 'newer' updated version, and is more accurate than simply putting the dye in then taking a serious of XRay's. The radiographer when scanning can have a good look around!
Hope this helps, good Luck

Thanks for explaining it so well, milly! My FS wants me to do another HSG, so the info was very useful for me too!

Hey girls

I had a SSG done in November and the sonographer first did an external ultrasound of my abdomen and she found 2 fibroids. She looked at my ovaries which looked a little sandy on the surface. She also looked at the arteries that supply blood to the uterus and the ovaries. Then she also looked at my kidneys as well as they actually affect your fertility as well if they are not fuctioning properly.

Then she did the internal ultrasound with the wand thingy and looked at the walls of the vagina, the cervix, the uterus from a different perspective and also the ovaries again.

Then i got the saline put into my uterus and then some more pushed through to clear out my tubes of mucous and debris. This part of the procedure could verify the shape of my uterus cavity and that my tubes were clear...but also the rate at which the saline runs through and the direction etc which is important as well.

With a HSG they can only verify the shape of the uterus cavity and if the dye spills out of the tubes and into the abdomen cavity. Once the dye has been put through the tubes and it has spilled into the abdomen cavity, they can no longer see anything else because the dye takes some time to be absorbed by your system, where as the saline doesnt dye your tubes as it is clear. That is why they take a series of xrays, to see the dyes progress.

Also the saline is warmed before it is used and the ultrasound is actually a doppler and is picking up the warmth of the saline not the colour...and it comes up a different colour on the ultrasound screen. So my radiologist was able to see that the saline was travelling through my left tube much slower then the right one, and so she directed the catheter toward that tube and pushed some more saline through that side which forced some debris out and cleared my tube completely.

Sorry for the long post, but i hope it is informative and helps.

Thanks! That helps a lot. Just wondering if it hurts at all. And how long after can you TTC again. I am having mine on day 9 so I wonder if I can still TTC this month?????

Ok, now i assume that they told you to take some nurofen the night before the procedure and an hour before the procedure... i took nurofen plus!!

First you have the abdominal u/s then the internal u/s, and they are both painless. Then the next part of the procedure is that they have to make the procedure sterile, so they wash the perinium and labia then insert the speculum and also wash the vagina and cervix with a sterile solution to avoid infection. That feels abit weird, but they warm up the solution so it aint so bad...

Because the procedure is performed on day 9, your cervix is closed...so for me yes it hurt quite a bit when they put in the cathether...they had about 3 or 4 goes tho... they kept changing to a smaller one...

And yes when they push the fluid through it was very uncomfortable and painful at the end... but i just clenched my jaw and tried to breathe through it and to bear it because it was only for about 20 to 30 seconds or so...

I just tried to imagine what it was like having a contraction or giving birth or something and that that pain would be much worse and it was something i needed to experience in order to have a baby... After they take the catheter out the fluid drains out and immediately the pain subsides pretty quickily...i found it best to sit up after a minute and try and push some of the fluid out and i felt much better...

Hope i havent scared you, but really, you will feel much better when you have the results, knowing the status of uterus and fallopian tubes, rather than guessing and it is really only for the last couple of minutes...the cathether going into the cervix for a minute and the fluid being pushed through for upto a minute ...it doesnt take long at all then its over. Whats a couple of minutes when you are in labour for hours when you do get pregnant!!

I also had my procedure on day 9 and then i had an IUI on day 13 and day 14 of that very same cycle, so yes you can TTC that very cycle...I'm trying to make the most of the first 3 cycles after the procedure because there is statistically higher pregnancy rates after this procedure.

And believe me, it is nothing compared to a laparoscopy....so i think it is a good technique, much better than laparoscopy... Good luck!!

Thanks TwoMums,
I am TTC # 2 so have been through labour. But I find pap smears still hurt and I dread them. The 2 don't really compare. I imagine this will be a lot worse than a pap smear. But yes, better than a laparoscopy. I've had one of those also. Good to know what I'm heading into. And thanks for the advice on the Nurofen. Nobody said anything about that to me. Fingers crossed that the results will be good!

Had my SSG today. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but I am bleeding now and not sure if this is normal. Did you bleed TwoMums?
Bye the way, I am told everything looks normal. They didn't check my tubes individually but said at least one must be clear because I had the outflow of saline.

Um no i did not bleed, i had a browny discharge for a bit because they used betadine to wash the cervix and vagina with. Um is it a little bit or a lot? If it is a little bit maybe they just scraped your cervix a little when they put the catheter in. I hope that you called your doctor today just in case.

I'm glad it wasn't as bad as you thought it would be, maybe mine was a bit more painful because i had some mucous and debris in my tubes from having endometriosis previously, maybe i'm just a sook LOL.

But in any case YAY for the results, got the all clear!!

Susan, I've had the same procedure and i did bleed, well more like spotting, for about a day or so after.
With my procedure, after the saline, they added in a dye called levovist and you can see it flow out of the tubes up on the ultrasound screen, it looks white as it flows through.
I was the same as TwoMums, very painful, the part where they expand the small balloon thing in your cervix to block the saline in is what i found the worse.

Carys.

Okay, now I'm worried. I did actually bleed, not just spotting, but has stopped now. I didn't call the Dr. today but maybe I should call just to make sure it's normal. I actually got a bit of a shock when I stood up after the procedure cause there was blood all over the paper liner thingy they put on the bed. It came out with the saline. Hmmm, yes, I'll call tomorrow. Thanks for the info.

And yeh, the balloon bit hurt and also the first squirt of saline. I felt the cramping was like very bad period pain, but I think the pain killers helped a lot.

Susan, I've had a couple of the saline infusions without the dye prior to this procedure and each time i had blood come out with the saline at the end and continue on for around 24 hours. I would call the dr though, just to be sure.

Carys.

Thanks Girls,
I called the Dr today and was told it is normal to bleed for a day or 2 and spot for up to a week. My CM is a bit discoloured still but the bleed has definately stopped.
Thanks for all the info. It's been great to have someone to talk to about my concerns. It helped a lot. Now just hoping with the all clear I can finally get my BFP.
SusanT

Best of luck Susan, I guess i was lucky not to have bleed after the procedure...anyway its over and done with now and the best thing is you got positive results!!!