Category Archives: vas reversal georgia

The Semen Analysis after a Vasectomy Reversal-Meaning.

Sperm-egg

I saw a patient recently on whom I performed a reversal around a year ago. He and his wife have not achieved pregnancy. He showed me the report of a semen analysis which showed around 50 million sperm with a motility of over 50%.  Although 60-150 million sperm is considered normal, most urologists feel that any count above 20 million is suitable to achieve pregnancy. Motility should be over 45% (i.e. 45% of the sperm under the microscope are observed to be moving forward).  Other parameters such as morphology (how the sperm look) are less important.

From the perspective of the surgeon who performed the procedure, any sperm in the ejaculate indicates that the reversal was successful and now it is up the the male to begin to produce the quality of sperm necessary to achieve pregnancy. As well, there is the added dynamics of the female ability to have a child. As a rule, when there is no pregnancy between a couple without the history of a vasectomy, the problem is about 50/50 male to female. The point is that even if the post reversal male has adequate sperm, pregnancy still requires other factors to be in place as well.

In the above scenario, the good sperm count and motility is a very good start and indicates a good reversal. And it makes the point about couples understanding the difference between patency (presence of sperm after a reversal) and pregnancy. There is usually a 10-15% differential between the two.

Pregnancy is a many splendored thing-Pregnancy after a reversal is a multi-factorial thing.

Post Vasectomy Pain Syndrome: Reason for Vasectomy Reversal?

I have done over a thousand vasectomies and to my knowledge have not seen this syndrome in my practice.

Having said that, I do believe this malady does exist. But here is the thing, when a patient has a vasectomy reversal to alleviate the pain, it may not be the reversal per se that makes the pain go away.

I recently did a vasectomy reversal on a patient that wanted the procedure to have another child. He did, however, mention that he was told that clips were used for his vasectomy and that he had had pain in the right testicle since the procedure. At the time of the reversal on the right side I found a sperm granuloma (an inflammatory mass in the area of the vasectomy as a result of the body’s attempt to correct the trauma of the surgery and response to sperm which the body views as a foreign body)  and marked surrounding inflammatory changes.  There were clips noted and dissecting the granuloma out, cleaning the two ends of the vas and removing the “inflammatory glob” was more difficult than the usual dissection.  So at the end of the reversal on the right side the patient had the granuloma removed and pristine ends of the vas reconnected with microscopic suture.

It is too early to say if the reversal in terms of pregnancy and patency was successful. But what if his right testicular pain goes away? Maybe it is the removal of the sperm granuloma and not reconstituting the vas. In other words a vasectomy reversal done of post vasectomy pain syndrome that is successful, might have been because of removing the scar tissue and not the reversal.

I had a reversal patient several months ago tell me as he was leaving our surgery center that the primary reason for having the reversal was for pain and not children. He failed to tell me that preoperatively and if he had I would have discouraged having a reversal for that purpose alone. (Surgeon’s rule number one: Don’t operate on folks for pain.)  As it turned out, he wrote me a note complimenting my staff at our surgery center and that he was very pleased with the results, i.e. no more pain not that there was a pregnancy.

In summary, there may be something to having a reversal to alleviate chronic post vasectomy pain but it may have more to do with removing the sperm granuloma and inflammatory tissue than restoring the flow of sperm.

Birth defects after microscopic vasectomy reversal?

Just like the Marines…only the strongest, the fastest, the finest “get through.” And this is natures way of assuring the best sperm for the job.

“Cracking the egg” is very competitive!

A link between vasectomy reversals and birth defects has not been convincingly demonstrated.

Considering a vasectomy reversal? Consultation is free.

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If you are considering a vasectomy reversal, even if you are unsure who you will choose to perform it, it is a good idea to have a preoperative consultation. You can ask the pressing questions that concern you, you can get a concept of the procedure, the time it will take, the cost, and as a result of the exam of the previous vasectomy site-you will know if there are any contraindications for the procedure pertinent to you. It is also an opportunity to get to know the physician that may be doing the procedure.

The reason it is not unusual for a consultation to be free for reversals is that the visit and the subsequent procedure is usually not covered by insurance. The free consultation is beneficial to both parties and by being at no cost encourages the  couple to take that”first step” to the journey of having another baby.