Vasectomy

Alternative Names: Sterilization surgery – male; No-scalpel vasectomy; NSV

A vasectomy is surgery to cut the vas deferens, the tubes that carry a man's sperm from his scrotum to his urethra. The urethra is the tube that carries sperm and urine out of the penis. After a vasectomy, sperm cannot move out of the testes. A man who has had a successful vasectomy cannot make a woman pregnant.

Description of Procedure

Vasectomy is usually done in the surgeon's office using local anesthesia. You will be awake but not feel any pain.

• After your scrotum is shaved and cleaned, your surgeon will give you a shot of numbing medicine into the area.
• Your surgeon will then make a small surgical cut in the upper part of your scrotum, and tie off and cut apart the vas deferens. Your surgeon will use stitches or a skin glue to close the wound.

You may have a vasectomy without a surgical cut. This is called a no-scalpel vasectomy (NSV).

• Your surgeon will find the vas deferens by feeling your scrotum and then give you numbing medication.
• The surgeon will then make a tiny hole in the skin of your scrotum and seal off the vas deferens. The surgeon will usually pull your vas deferens through the tiny hole in order to tie off and cut it apart. You will not need stitches.

Risks of Vasectomy

There is no serious risk to vasectomy. Your semen will be tested in the months after the operation to make sure it does not contain sperm.

As with any surgical procedure, infection, swelling, or prolonged pain can occur. Careful following of aftercare instructions reduces these risks significantly.

Very rarely, the vas deferens can grow back together again. If this happens, sperm can mix with semen. This would make it possible for you to make a woman pregnant.

Before and after vasectomy	Sperm	Vasectomy - series

Review Date: 3/22/2010
Reviewed By: David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc., and Scott Miller, MD, Urologist in private practice in Atlanta, Georgia.

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