Severe obesity constitutes the main public health crisis of the industrialised world. Bariatric surgery has been proposed as the most efficient treatment of obesity. In this study, we report the potential effects of bariatric surgery on semen parameters in male partners of couples undergoing assisted reproduction. These patients had been tested in the context of infertility treatment in two consecutive cycles before and after bariatric surgery. A marked reduction in sperm parameters was observed in a period of twelve to eighteen months after surgery. This unfavourable effect had also remarkable effects on the assisted reproduction outcome, necessitating the counselling of patients before bariatric surgery.
© 2012 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.