Vasovasostomy: 10 years' experience in a district general hospital showing improved results with luminal dilatation
Banerjee, A.K.; Bajwa, F.M.; Simpson, A.
Journal of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh 39(3): 153-155
1994
ISSN/ISBN: 0035-8835 PMID: 7932333 Document Number: 427736
Various vasectomy reversal techniques have been reported, but no single technique has proven to be clearly better. In this article, the authors report on a simple, lower-cost vasectomy reversal technique. A retrospective study of 105 men, who had had a vasectomy performed between 2 and 14 years earlier, was carried out. 33 of these patients had received luminal dilatation, while 72 had not; these two groups were used for operative comparison. The operative technique involved opening the scrotum and locating the vas. The vas was incised next to the testicular side and then dilated. A prolene stent was passed into each end of the cut vas; then sutures were applied. In the second group, an identical procedure was performed except for the dilatation of the lumen. 77 of the 105 men (73%) showed a reversal in the vasectomy. Dilatation of the lumen improved reversal rate success over those without dilatation (26/33 [79%] vs. 51/72 [71%]). Also shown was that, as time between original vasectomy and reversal increased, the success rate decreased. Complications from these procedures were uncommon.