What are the different types of vasectomy reversals?
Reversals are generally performed in an outpatient area of a hospital or in an ambulatory surgery center. The operation is usually performed with general anesthesia if the surgical microscope is used, as any movement is magnified under the microscope. The choice will depend on the preference of the surgeon, patient and anesthesiologist.
Once the patient is anesthetized, the urologist will make a small opening (cut) on each side of the scrotum and first remove the scarred ends of the vas at the point of blockage created by the vasectomy. The urologist will then extract a fluid sample from the end closest to the testicle to see if the fluid contains sperm.
The presence of sperm in the fluid is an indication that there is no obstruction between the testicle and the location in the vas from which the fluid was obtained, and particularly that there is no blockage in the epididymis. When sperm are present in the fluid, the ends of the vas can be connected to reestablish the passageway for sperm. The medical term for reconnecting the ends of the vas is vasovasostomy.
The microsurgical approach is recommended and uses a high-powered microscope to magnify structures from five to 40 times their actual size. Use of an operating microscope provides better results, as it allows the urologist to manipulate stitches smaller in diameter than an eyelash to join the ends of the vas. When microsurgery is used, vasovasostomy results in return of sperm to the semen in 70-95 percent of patients and pregnancy in 30-75 percent of female partners, depending upon the length of time from the vasectomy until the reversal (see next section).
If the urologist does not find sperm in the fluid sample, it may be because the original vasectomy resulted in back pressure that caused a break in the epididymal tubule. Because any break in this single, continuous tube can result in a blockage, the urologist will have to employ a more complicated reversal technique called an epididymovasostomy or vasoepididymostomy. In this procedure, the urologist must bypass the blockage in the epididymis by connecting the "upper" (abdominal) end of the vas to the epididymis above the point of the blockage.
While vasoepididymostomy is a more complex procedure than vasovasostomy due to the very small size of the tube inside the epididymis, recent advances in the surgical technique have made outcomes nearly as good as for vasovasostomy. You may need a combination of the two techniques, with a vasovasostomy done on one side and a vasoepididymostomy on the other side. Vasoepididymostomy usually requires a longer incision into the scrotum.
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