Sperm antibodies are immune factors that react against sperm causing them to lose motility or to occasionally prevent sperm from penetrating the egg. Normally, our immune system produces antibodies to fight off infection or cancer. However, nearly all men form antibodies against their sperm after a vasectomy. Fortunately, these sperm antibodies will usually disappear after a successful vasectomy reversal. When they persist, motility and egg penetration by the sperm can be improved by treatment with medication or the use of sperm processing in the laboratory in association with artificial insemination of the wife. This is one of the many reasons to have your vasectomy reversal performed by a doctor who has “in depth” knowledge of the complete field of male infertility. Find out more at www.vasectomyreversal.com .
Archive for March, 2009
Sperm Antibodies
Monday, March 30th, 2009
Mini-incision (no scalpel) Vasectomy Reversal
Sunday, March 22nd, 2009An article was recently published in the medical literature and videos are being posted on the internet promoting no scalpel mini-incision vasectomy reversal. The authors have adapted techniques that have been used for several years to perform no scalpel vasectomy. The doctors and their patients anticipate reduced pain and more rapid recovery while preserving current success rates. However, in my experience from redo reversals of previously failed vasectomy reversals from doctors who attempted small incisions, there was greater pain from the original reversal than from my redo reversal with a larger incision. Rather than incision size, lack of pain and more rapid recovery seem to be related to the surgeon’s experience and to a more careful technique with attention to details. Since the “official” no scalpel vasectomy reversal has only been used by a few surgeons over the past 2 years, it is too early to make any strong conclusions about it’s utility. Lastly, in my experience, at least one third of cases will require the more technically demanding epididymovasostomy which cannot be performed through an incision smaller than one inch in length and many cases of vasovasostomy require longer incisions than a no scalpel technique allows for when there are large gaps between the two vas ends. In conclusion, it is too early to say that no scalpel vasectomy is a preferred technique, and it may only be usable in 50 % of cases. Please review more details on our website at www.vasectomyreversal.com .
Vasectomy Reversal Success Rates
Monday, March 16th, 2009Many vasectomy reversal websites do not publish their success rates. Most commonly, success rates are reported for bilateral vasovasostomy, the straight forward vas-to-vas reconnection, and they reflect rate of return of sperm. Published success rates will range from 90-98% return of sperm after vasovasostomy from most clinics that specialize in microsurgical repair. However, you also need to know the success rates for return of sperm when one side requires a vasovasostomy (VV) and the other requires an epididymovasostomy (EV). Furthermore, we have seen many cases less than 5 years from time of vasectomy to time of reversal that needed bilateral epididymovasostomy. When one side is a VV and the other side is an EV, Dr. Buch still has a 95% success rate to return sperm to your ejaculate. When both sides require EV, Dr. Buch still has an 85% success rate to return sperm to your ejaculate. Only a money back guarantee or refund program can assure you of the honesty of a program’s reported success rates. Pregnancy rates, as a measure of success, are the subject for a later post to the blog. Find out more at www.vasectomyreversal.com .
Vasectomy reversal and Guarantee programs
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009Many doctors say that they guarantee results from your vasectomy reversal by offering to “redo” your reversal at little or no additional cost if your original reversal fails. However, this is a hollow guarantee. Think about whether you will have the confidence to repeat a vasectomy reversal with the same doctor if the first attempt failed. A real vasectomy reversal guarantee only exists when the doctor offers to refund all or a significant portion of his surgeon’s fee should your reversal fail to return sperm. Only then can you have confidence in the honesty of that doctor’s statistics. You can find out more about money back guarantee for vasectomy reversal at www.vasectomyreversal.com or at www.vasectomyreversalguarantee.com .
Vasectomy Reversal Cost
Sunday, March 1st, 2009The cost of vasectomy reversal is not simply just the dollar amount charged by the doctor. Ultimately, the vasectomy reversal cost is a reflection of the dollar amount charged, the corresponding success rates for return of sperm and pregnancy, and the level of care delivered by the doctor and his staff before, during and after your surgery. Typically, the lowest cost providers deliver lower vasectomy reversal success rates and they are not as easy to reach and get helpful responses from as those doctors who factor their higher success rates and a commitment to excellent patient care into a higher cost structure. This is true with almost any product or service that you might think of. Vasectomy reversal is a highly skilled procedure, best performed by doctors who have dedicated their careers to this field from early in their training. Unfortunately, the prospective vasectomy reversal client who makes their decision by dollar cost alone will get what they pay for. A more complete discussion on this topic can be found at www.vasectomyreversalcost.com
