Table 1. Characteristics of 20 included trials on basic information.
| Study ID | Participants (original) | Primary disease for infertility | IVF | Outcome | Risk of bias | |
| HG | CG | |||||
| Chang et al., 2011 | 35 | 35 | ITO | GnRH-a+ | FR; HQER; CPR; AR; blighted ovum rate | High |
| Deng et al., 2011 | 115 | 134 | ITO; male factors | GnRH-a+ | ET; NTE; HQER; IR; CPR; OHSS | High |
| *Deng et al., 2011a | 41 | 41 | ITO; male factors | GnRH-a+ | ET; NTE; HQER; IR; CPR; OHSS | High |
| Gao and Du, 2012 | 30 | 28 | non organic diseases infertility | GnRH-a+ | CPR; HQER; AR; OHSS; blighted ovum rate | Unclear |
| *Gao et al., 2012 | 21 | 21 | Unclear | GnRH-a+ | CPR; ET | Unclear |
| Ge et al., 2010 | 101 | 106 | ITO; male factors | GnRH-a+ | ET; HL; FR; NTE; IR; CPR; multiple birth rate; AR | High |
| *Huang, 2012 | 82 | 80 | Unclear | Unclear | CPR; AR | High |
| Lei and Luo, 2011 | 20 | 21 | ITO | GnRH-a+ | CPR; HQER; ET; NTE; IR; HL | Unclear |
| Lian et al., 2006 | 33(36) | 33(38) | ITO | GnRH-a+ | HL; CPR; ET; HQER; FR | High |
| Lian et al., 2008 | 36 | 28 | POS | GnRH-a+ | HL; FR; HQER; BPR; CPR; OHSS | High |
| Li, 2008 | 31 | 32 | ITO; male factors | GnRH-a+ | ET; CPR; FR; HQER | High |
| *Li, 2009 | 40 | 30 | Unclear | Unclear | BPR; CPR | High |
| Li et al., 2012 | 28 | 29 | ITO | Unclear | FR; CPR | High |
| Liu et al., 2008 | 42 | 40 | endometriosis | GnRH-a+ | FR; HQER; CPR | High |
| Li et al., 2008 | 10 | 10 | endometriosis | GnRH-a+/− | FR; CPR | High |
| Sun et al., 2011 | 30(31) | 31(33) | fallopian tube obstruction | GnRH-a+ | ET; FR; HQER; NTE; CPR | High |
| Teng and Lian, 2009 | 27 (30) | 22 (30) | deficiency of the kidney qi | FET | Chinese syndrome scores; NTE; HL; ET; CPR; IR | High |
| Teng and Lian, 2006 | 42 | 38 | ITO; deficiency of the kidney | GnRH-a+ | Chinese syndrome scores; FR; HQER; BPR; CPR | High |
| Zhang et al., 2007 | 33 | 33 | ITO | GnRH-a+ | CPR; embryo score | High |
| Zhu et al., 2002 | 66(70) | 69(70) | ITO; endometriosis; male factors; | GnRH-a+ | FR; ET; NTE; IR; CPR | High |
Women who accepted IVF and failed once (or more) before;
IVF: in vitro fertilization; HG: Herbal group; CG: Control group; ITO: infertility of tubal origin; POS: polycystic ovarian syndrome; GnRH-a: GnRH-a gonadotropin releasing hormone agonist; GnRH-a+: GnRH-a long programme+corpus luteum (with fresh embryo transfer); GnRH-a−: GnRH-a short programme+corpus luteum (with fresh embryo transfer); FET: frozen embryo transfer; FR: fertilization rate; HQER: high quality embryos rate; CPR: clinical pregnancy rate; AR: abortion rate; NTE: No. of transferred embryos; IR: implantation rate; OHSS: ovarian hyper stimulation syndrome; OPR: ongoing pregnancy rate; ET: endometrial thickness; HL: hormone levels.