Impact of testicular delivery and vasal vein ligation on clinical outcomes in men undergoing microsurgical varicocelectomy

Purpose To assess the impact of microsurgical varicocelectomy technique on clinical outcomes. Methods Men diagnosed with varicocele between 2017 and 2020 were reviewed. We included men who underwent microsurgical varicocelectomy by two high-volume surgeons who differed in surgical technique: Method (1) testicular delivery with gubernacular vein ligation, and ligation of vasal veins > 2.5 mm; Method (2) no delivery and ligation of dilated vasal veins in cases of recurrence. Post-operative changes for semen parameters, DNA fragmentation, and serum testosterone were evaluated for each technique and compared. Results 313 patients were included; 162 with Method 1 and 151 with Method 2. The cohorts were of similar age (median 35 years, interquartile range (IQR) 28–43; 34, IQR 28–39, respectively), and BMI (25 kg/m 2 , IQR 23–27; 25, IQR 23–28, respectively). For Method 1, 84 (51.9%) had bilateral surgery, and 78 (48.1%) had unilateral surgery. For Method 2, 63 (41.7%) had bilateral surgery, and 88 (58.3%) unilateral surgery. In patients with sperm concentration > 5 M/mL, both techniques resulted in an improvement ( p < 0.01), but there was no difference between the methods ( p = 0.18). Both methods were associated with an improvement in total motile count ( p < 0.05) and the amount of DNA fragmentation ( p < 0.05), although no differences were apparent between the techniques ( p = 0.09, p = 0.81, respectively). Finally, testosterone levels improved with Method 1, but the post-operative difference was not different than Method 2 ( p = 0.06). Conclusion Delivery of the testis and ligation of dilated vasal veins compared to not performing those steps do not impact semen parameters, but are associated with improvement in testosterone levels.