STUDIES ON IDIOPATHIC VARICOCELE

II: Studies on Anti-Reflux Treatment in the Internal Spermatic Vein in Varicocele and its Results

Abstract

In the past 5 years we treated 710 males suffering from infertility. Among these, idiopathic varicocele was observed as a complication in 266 cases (37.5%). High ligation of the spermatic vein was conducted in 85 cases and embolization in 30. The numbers of these cases who could be followed up in 3 months or more subsequent to surgery, were 76 and 16 respectively. Treatment efficacy was determined by evaluating modification in the Eliasson score of semen quality before and after surgery.
In the high ligation treatment group, the average semen score before surgery was 19.6±8.6 but the post-surgery score improved to 13.6±9.6 (p<0.001).
In the embolization group, 7 of the 16 cases (44%) showed improvement on the pre-surgery semen quality.
successful pregnancy was achieved in 16 of the 76 cases (21%) in the high ligation group and these were those patients whose pre-surgery average semen score of 16.4±9.4, significantly improved to 7.6±6.2 (p<0.01) after surgery. Successful pregnancy was achieved in 4 of the 16 cases (25%) in the embolization group, but in these cases a significant difference between pre- and post-surgery semen quality did not exist.