Vasectomy reversal

Detailed Information about Vasectomy Reversal

One of the most popular and successful male contraception methods is Vasectomy. Others are temporary methods, while Vasectomy is considered to be the permanent method of birth control.

What is Vasectomy and Vasectomy Reversal?

The surgical procedure for male sterilization is known as Vasectomy. In this procedure, the male vas deferens are tied or sealed permanently to prevent sperm from entering into the seminal stream and thus preventing fertilization. This is a minor surgery, which prevents the sperms from reaching the semen. Sperms are still produced after vasectomy but they are naturally soaked up in the body. Semen also exists but without sperm. There may be many reasons when you may have a change of heart and wish to undo vasectomy. Salute to the advancements in medical technology and researches being done in the field, which has treatments for Vasectomy reversal to enable pregnancy even after Vasectomy nowadays. The surgical procedure that reconnects the two tubes of the male reproductive tract again enabling the chances of fertilization is known as Vasectomy reversal. This reversal of vasectomy operation is usually an out-patient surgery hardly requiring a night stay in the hospital. The method is done with general anaesthesia or spinal anaesthesia and may also be treated by a microsurgery.

How to Prepare before a Vasectomy Reversal?

This reversal of vasectomy surgery is opted by those, who had undergone vasectomy in the past and now wish to be fertile. There is no such specific preparation required for this kind of surgery, as it’s mostly a micro surgical procedure, which takes only 1-4 hours time with a come-and-go basis of treatment technique. Two things that you must note before the treatment are – firstly, looking for an experienced practitioner because some very silly complications rise due to the lack in experience of the doctor; and second, the cost which will be higher than that of vasectomy paid earlier is also required to be considered.

What Are the Two Types of Vasectomy Reversal Treatments Available?

A vasectomy can be reversed through two different procedures, which are as follows:

1. Vasovasostomy: This type of surgery aims at sewing back the severed ends of the vas deferens together involving a microsurgical procedure, which engages a microscope to magnify the surgical area.
2. Vasoepididymostomy: This technique of Vasectomy reversal is a more complex type of microsurgical treatment, which surgically reattaches the ends of the vas deferens simply to the epididymis, which is 1/300^th of an inch wide and 1/1000^th of an inch thick walled. The criticality of the treatment may be visible from several vasectomy videos available online these days.

What Are the Side Effects and Complications of Vasectomy Reversal Operation?

Though the vasectomy reversal procedure does not differ with the age of the male partner, still it may involve some kind of complications after the surgery is done, some of which are mentioned below:

• About 50%-80% of males, who have undergone vasectomy, develop some kinds of reactions against their own sperm, which is known as anti-sperm antibodies. Sometimes, fertility is impaired due to the high level of proteins that are directed against the sperm.
• In many cases, it is seen that scar tissues develop at the place of reconnection, causing blockage. This also has treatment through medication or repeat of vasectomy reversal process.
• Sperm count increases but the sperm movement sometimes gets affected due to epididymis being affected by increased pressure.
• There remains a small chance of bleeding too, which may result in Hematoma or blood clotting in the scrotum. This may be rectified by surgical drainage.
• In some cases, painful granuloma caused due to leakage of sperms from the reversal site.
• Another associated risk of this treatment is the injury to the arteries of nerves in the scrotum may occur.

What Are the Advantages of This Process?

The person, who has previously done Vasectomy, may wish to reverse the vasectomy due to several reasons like change of heart, wish to have babies, religious purposes or to treat post vasectomy pain syndrome. The reversal process also brings many other benefits as mentioned below:

• This technology allows couples with tubal blockage to have babies by by-passing the blocked tube.
• It makes way for couples to have baby naturally without having several doctor check-ups and medications.
• It increases the chances of pregnancy by every month. It increases the chance more than that by a single session of IVF.

How Far It Adds to Successful Pregnancy and Patency?

Though, in every case, female age is a very vital determinant of pregnancy success rate, still vasectomy reversal success rate also brings pregnancy success than patency success rates. The reversal of vasectomy failure rate happens to be very low. The success rate also varies with the year gap between the vasectomy and the reversal procedure. The closer is the gap; the better is the result of the process. With vasectomy reversal, most men have been reported to have a healthier and motile sperm in ejaculation and also the time span of achieving motile sperm also enhanced. It is found from studies that around 50% of couples on an average attain pregnancy within 3-4 months of the reversal procedure.

What Are the Dos and Don’ts for This Surgery?

Immediately after the surgery, the patients should adhere to the following points for fast reversal of vasectomy recovery:

• Remove dressings and continue with the scrotal support for at least a week.
• Apply ice to the scrotum till 24 hours for the swellings to remove.
• Continue with prescribed pain medication.
• Revert to normal diet with lots of fluids intake.
• Resume slowly into non-strenuous activities slowly on feeling better.
• Refrain from sexual intercourse as per advice from your surgeon.

What Is the Cost of the Treatment?

The Vasectomy reversal cost is different in different places. This is a very critical technique involving microsurgical methods, making it a costly procedure. Most insurance claims do not cover it, and thus, you have to spend it by cash payments just like plastic surgery expenditure. For these reasons, couples tend to look for reasonable treatment procedures, while having a baby. India is rising in its infertility disorder treatments and that too in quite a reasonable amount.

The technique used in the method is so advanced and a well-experienced surgeon does it so neatly that pre-vasectomy conditions rarely exist, making it almost like normal as it was earlier.