Objective: To characterize the changes in seminogram findings in infertile men after varicocelectomy.
Methods: This study included 71 consecutive infertile men who underwent microsurgical low ligation varicocelectomy and received 3 semen analyses, 1 before microsurgical varicocelectomy and again at 3 and 12 months after. Total motile sperm count (TMSC) was calculated using the following formula: [volume (mL) × concentration (millions/mL) × motility (%)].
Results: Despite the lack of significant changes in the proportion of sperm with abnormal morphology, sperm concentration, motility, and TMSC in the 71 patients were significantly higher at 3 and 12 months after varicocelectomy than before surgery. However, no further improvement in these parameters at 12 months after varicocelectomy was noted compared with those at 3 months. Furthermore, when the included men were divided into 3 groups according to preoperative TMSC as <3 million, 3-9 million, and >9 million, TMSCs at 3 months after varicocelectomy in all 3 groups were significantly higher than those before varicocelectomy; however, TMSCs at 12 months after surgery in all groups were similar to those at 3 months.
Conclusion: The level of improvement in semen parameters at 3 months after varicocelectomy may be stable at 12 months after surgery, irrespective of baseline values of TMSC. Therefore, varicocelectomy could be offered as a therapeutic option for infertile men, even for couples with an older woman, because its efficacy is evaluable at 3 months after surgery, and assisted reproductive technology could be immediately applied to ineffective cases.
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