Surgical Sperm Retrievals
The male factor is responsible for approximately 40-50% of infertility cases. There could be various underlying problems varying from reduced sperm quality or quantity of total absence of sperms in the seminal fluid known as azoospermia.
Azoospermia Can Be Obstructive or Non- Obstructive
- Obstructive Azoospermia (OA) is due to blockage at some point in the pathway from testes to urethra. These is no problem with sperm production, but the obstruction prevents them to be discharged at the time of ejaculation.
- Non-Obstructive Azoospermia in which the absence of spermatozoa is due to non-production of spermatozoa by testes without any obstruction. If such problems exist, the sperms are recovered with the help of surgical techniques, directly from testes or epididymis.
The Techniques of Sperm Retrieval are:
TESE: Testicular Sperm Extraction
It is a technique of removal of testicular tissue in case of reduced production of these by testes. It involves the following steps:-
– under short anaesthesia
– Very small incision on the testes
– Retrieval of sperms checked under microscope.
Operating microscopes may be used for removal (Micro-TESE). The patient is discharged after 2 hrs and active next day.
TESA- Testicular Sperm Aspiration Epididymal
This is alternative to TESE which is performed under sedation or local anaesthesia. It involves a needle connected to a syringe containing culture medium. The needle is introduced in the testes from where it sucks the spermatozoa from seminiferous tubules. The aspirated material is observed under microscope to verify presence of adequate spermatozoa. This technique is less invasive and allows the recovery of spermatozoa in cases of obstructive azoospermia.
PESA- Percutaneous Epididymal sperm aspiration
Is the simplest technique of seminal liquid extraction. It involves recovery of sperms through cutaneous aspiration of liquid from epididymis, after local anaesthesia. The needle is inserted, liquid is collected, is analysed in order to extract the spermatozoa. This is rather a simple procedure. On failure to recover the sperms, there is a probability to resort to another surgical technique of sperm removal.
Why choose AIIM for IVF treatment?
At AIIM IVF Centre, all the surgical techniques of extracting the seminal fluid from testes available to help the couples to father their own children which would not have been possible otherwise.