Microsurgical intermediate subinguinal varicocelectomy

Abstract

This study was conducted to introduce a simple modification that can facilitate microsurgical subinguinal varicocelectomy (MSV) especially for surgeons inexperienced in microsurgical technique. A single surgeon performed microsurgical intermediate subinguinal varicocelectomy (MISV) on 52 patients with 61 cases between September 2010 and August 2012. Patient age, varicocele grade, operation time, intraoperative findings, postoperative complications, and 3-month follow-up results were analyzed. Patient mean age was 28 years (range, 15–69 years), and there were 9 bilateral cases. The mean operative time was 51 minutes (range, 34–109 minutes). We compared the first 31 cases to the second 30 cases, to assess investigator experience on operating times. The mean number of ligated veins was 5 (range, 3–10) in internal spermatic vein, 1 (range, 0–4) in external spermatic vein, and 1 (range, 0–3) in gubernacular vein. In 28 patients, the average postoperative sperm concentration at the 3-month follow-up was significantly higher than the preoperative sperm concentration (28.5 ± 18.2 × 106/mL versus 10.5 ± 23.0 × 106/mL; P = 0.003). Mean motility improved after MSIV (65.7% ± 18.2% versus 47.2% ± 21.7%; P = 0.004). In conclusion, MISV appears comparable with MSV in terms of the high success rate, low complication rate, and low postoperative pain; and it can be easily accomplished by inexperienced surgeons.