Vasectomy Reversal | Vasectomy Reversals

At this year’s 2010 national American Urologic Association’s meeting in San Francisco, California, Cassidy et al. from Toronto Canada looked back at all the male patients at their institution that had underwent radiologic treatment for varicoceles (dilated veins in the scrotum that can hinder the testicles ability to make sperm and testosterone). The varicoceles were treated by embolization (where the major blood vessels in your body are accessed via a small skin puncture, and the blood vessels causing the varicoceles are blocked off using metal coils or clogging agents). They found that the success rate for treating left-sided varicoceles (97%) was comparable to microsurgical varicocele ligations whereas the embolization of right-sided varicoceles had a much higher failure rate of 13%.
Bottomline: If the hospital near you has radiologic specialists who can do these embolizations, it is a treatment option that is comparable to microsurgical varicocele ligations. If you have bilateral varicoceles or a right-sided varicocele, you may be better served by having the microsurgical repair since the embolizations don’t work as well for the right side. As always, consult your male fertility doctor to learn what he is most comfortable with at your medical institution. -082010