Vasectomy: criteria of choice or protocol?

Bourmeau, A.; Le Danois, A.; Lucas, G.

Journal de Chirurgie 125(11): 666-671

1988


ISSN/ISBN: 0021-7697
PMID: 3225280
Document Number: 361739
A retrospective study of 1385 men who requested and underwent vasectomy during 1975-1986 at the Family Planning and Education Center at Saint-Jacques of Nantes Hospital in France was conducted to examine the characteristics of the vasectomy cases, contraception failure, and psychological, marital, and sexual consequences of vasectomy. The typical vasectomy acceptor was from the middle to upper class and 37.5 years old, had 2.7 children (more than the national average), became a father earlier than the average father, and, before the vasectomy, had depended on the most common contraceptives, especially oral contraceptives. The contraception failure rate was 2.31%. Contraception failure seemed to be associated with a resection vas size of less than 5 mm. The shorter resected vas contributed to reanastomosis through granulomas in 50% of observed cases that failed over 12 years (65% of cases in 1983 alone). Only 0.33% of all vasectomy cases requested vasectomy reversal. They were linked to changes in marital status. The acceptors exhibited a high rate of satisfaction with vasectomy. These findings validate the protocol used at the Center, which allows at best two apparently contradictory responsibilities: individual autonomy and safety in selecting candidates.

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