Varicocoele surgery as day surgery—a regional hospital experience

From July 1994 to February 2001, 60 patients underwent varicocoele surgery in the Day Surgery Centre, Department of Surgery, Kwong Wah Hospital, Hong Kong SAR, PRC. The mean age of these patients was 25.9 years (ranged 9–66). Their symptoms included pain/discomfort (41.7%), mass/swelling (36.7%), infertility (8.3%) and cosmetic reasons (1.7%). In seven patients the indication was not clearly defined. 31 (51.7%) varicocoele operations were laparoscopically performed, 26 (43.3%) by an open method and in four patients (6.7%) the method was not mentioned. The median operative time was 34 min. We successfully reduced or abolished the symptoms of varicocoele in 68.7% of patients whose indication was pain or discomfort and restored fertility in 80% of patients whose indication was infertility. There was only one unplanned hospital admission. There were no anaesthetic or post-operative complications. Varicocoele surgery performed on a day surgery basis is feasible, with a high operative success rate and potential cost reduction.