Who
is a candidate for epididymal sperm aspiration?
Occasionally, for those men with no sperm in the ejaculate, sperm
can be removed from the epididymis or directly from the testicle.
These procedures are called microsurgical epididymal sperm aspiration,
or testicular sperm aspiration. The sperm can then be used for intracytoplasmic
sperm injection (ICSI) in an IVF cycle to produce a pregnancy. |
What
are the potential complications of the surgery?
The risk of infection occurring is about 1 in 100 patients. If an
infection occurs, antibiotics are usually prescribed and most of these
infections rapidly clear.
|
Can this
operation be repeated?
If there is no pregnancy after the first attempt, it is possible
to repeat the sperm aspiration in another attempt to conceive. However,
we are now freezing epididymal sperm for repeated attempts in order
to avoid further surgeries. |
| THE
PROCEDURE: |
| With
local anesthesia, an incision is made in the scrotum. Under microscopic
control, sperm is then aspirated from the epididymis, the fine tubes
that conduct sperm away from the testicle. This procedure takes approximately
1 hour. The sperm is specially prepared and sent for use with in vitro
fertilization. |
| POST-OPERATIVE
RECOVERY: |
A support will
be placed around the scrotum for the first day. The small dressing
may be removed three days after surgery. Recovery from the surgery
takes up to two weeks and some people are even uncomfortable for
three or more weeks. |
