IS VASECTOMY OF LONG-TERM BENEFIT - VASECTOMY RELATED INFERTILITY - AMAJOR AND COSTLY MEDICAL PROBLEM

Of a group of 860 men who attended a private infertility clinic in Wes tern Australia, 80 (9.3%) presented with vasectomy-related infertility . Of these men, 73 (91%) requested treatment due to re-marriage. The m edian age of the men was 42.5 years and their present partners were si milar to 10 years younger. The median vasectomy interval in the men in this study was 9 years. Treatment of vasectomy-related infertility in cluded vasectomy reversal procedures, donor insemination and both in-v itro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). It is suggested that care must be taken in counselling such patients p rior to a vasectomy. The cryopreservation of semen prior to vasectomy would also make much of this type of infertility treatment unnecessary .