Everything You Need to Know About Vasectomy Reversal

What is a Microsurgical Vasectomy Reversal?

At the Vasectomy Reversal Center of America, we differentiate our vasectomy reversal as a microsurgical procedure. Not every physician is a microsurgeon and this distinction is important when it comes to high success rates.

Microsurgical vasectomy reversal is a delicate and complex operation performed to re-establish the pathway of sperm into the ejaculate. This microsurgery is done to reverse the effects of a vasectomy, which cuts the vas deferens. Sperm are made in the testes and then travel through the vas deferens into the ejaculate. A vasectomy creates a blockage in this tube, and a vasectomy reversal is a procedure to bypass this blockage.

Microsurgical Skills Make A Big Difference

The success of a vasectomy reversal is increased when performed microsurgically by a urologist who is a fellowship-trained in male infertility and microsurgery and who performs vasectomy reversals on a regular basis. Choosing a surgeon with extensive experience and a proven track record is the best option to help you achieve your dream of having a child naturally. Approximately 50,000 vasectomy reversals are performed in the U.S. each year, but there are only about 600 fellowship-trained male infertility microsurgeons nationwide. In the Mid-Atlantic region alone, there are very few, and right here in Maryland, we have Drs. David Fenig and Melissa Mendez.

Many urologists offer to perform vasectomy reversals, but a general urologist without fellowship training typically has only a 30 to 40 percent success rate with the procedure. At the vasectomy reversal center of America, our fellowship-trained microsurgeons have success rates of more than 90%.

The skill of the surgeon is most important since precise suture placement is necessary. The surgeon should have expertise in performing the more challenging epididymovasostomy for men who have a blockage in the epididymis, which is the gland that sits behind the testis where sperm go to mature and learn how to move. This is impossible to diagnose until the vasectomy reversal is being performed. Depending on the number of years between the vasectomy and vasectomy reversal, a certain percentage of vasectomy reversals require an epididymovasostomy.

At the Vasectomy Reversal Center of America, we have the most advanced microsurgical tools aided by the powerful magnification of a Zeiss operating microscope. Vasectomy reversals take place in a fully-equipped microsurgical suite supported by an experienced operating room team that includes specialty-trained nurses and board-certified anesthesiologists.