02 8382 6980 | Raji.Kooner@svha.org.au
St Vincent's Private Hospital | Mater Hospital, North Sydney | Bowral Office Staff Portal
Urology NSW
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Vasectomy

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A vasectomy should be considered by patients to be an irreversible procedure.1

It really involves a long discussion between the patient and his partner before we would advise patients to undergo a vasectomy.

Essentially the procedure is done either under local anaesthetic or a mild general anaesthetic.

The vas which is a tube that comes from the kidney and the bladder and produces sperm is immobilised, a small segment is then resected.

What I do is leave the testicular end or the bottom end free and tie the top end.

I also suture the bottom end in a separate plain to decrease the chance of these two ends joining together.

It's usually a day procedure and patients are usually very comfortable the next day and usually able to return to work.2

It's very important to consider a vasectomy as irreversible.

You have to wait two to three months for sperm counts to show no sperm to be present.

There is a low chance one in 3,0003 that the ends might rejoin again, called spontaneous recanalisation.

We do offer sperm donation for patients if they so choose and it's also important to remember that there's a small incidence of post vasectomy pain syndrome2.

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Vasectomy

A permanent decision

A vasectomy should be considered an irreversible procedure1. Before recommending vasectomy, Dr Kooner encourages a careful discussion between the patient and his partner about whether permanent contraception is the right choice for them.

How the procedure is performed

Vasectomy is carried out either under local anaesthetic or light general anaesthetic. The vas deferens - the tube that carries sperm from the testicle - is isolated and a small segment is removed. Dr Kooner leaves the testicular (lower) end open and ties off the upper end, and then sutures the lower end into a separate tissue plane to reduce the chance of the two ends rejoining.

Recovery

Vasectomy is usually a day procedure. Most patients are comfortable the next day and able to return to work soon after2.

What to expect afterwards

  • A post-procedure sperm count is done two to three months after surgery to confirm that no sperm remain - until then alternative contraception is needed.
  • There is a small chance - approximately 1 in 3,000 - that the two ends can spontaneously rejoin (spontaneous recanalisation)3.
  • A small number of men experience post-vasectomy pain syndrome2.

Sperm storage

Sperm donation (storage) is available for patients who wish to preserve the option of future fertility.

Vasectomy Patient Information Brochures

Vasectomy PDF Vasectomy reversal PDF How to do a post-vasectomy sperm count PDF
References
  1. Gavin Stormont; Christopher M. Deibert - Vasectomy - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK549904/
  2. Randall B. Meacham - Criteria for Determining That a Vasectomy Has Succeeded - Journal of Andrology - 02 January 2013 https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1939-4640.2003.tb02698.x
  3. Fang Yang, Junjun Li, Liang Dong - Review of Vasectomy Complications and Safety Concerns - World J Mens Health. 2021 Jul; 39(3): 406–418. Published online 2020 Jul 30. doi: 10.5534/wjmh.200073