Vasectomy and Vasectomy Reversal

Vasectomy is a safe and effective method of permanent contraception (1). In the United States, it is employed by nearly 7% of all married couples and performed on approximately one-half million men per year-more than any other urological surgical procedures. Impressive as these numbers may seem, far fewer vasectomies are performed, than female sterilizations by tubal ligation worldwide (2); this is in spite of the fact that vasectomy is less expensive and associated with much less morbidity and mortality than tubal ligation. Some men fear pain and complications, whereas others falsely equate vasectomy with castration or loss of masculinity. Although vasectomy is conceptually a very simple procedure, its technical difficulty is reflected in the markedly increased incidence of postoperative complications in the hands of surgeons who perform relatively few vasectomies per year (3). Efforts to enhance the popularity of vasectomy have led the Chinese to develop refined methods of vasectomy that minimize trauma, pain, and complications.