Best Varicocele Treatment in India

Overview

Varicocele is the enlargement of the veins in the scrotum, the bag where testicles are held. It is very similar to the varicose veins in the legs, which are formed when valves in the veins prevent proper blood flow. The backup causes the veins to dilate and can cause the testicles to shrink in size or even damage the testicles because of poor blood flow, resulting in infertility.

Varicoceles mostly occur on the left size because of the position of the left testicular vein, but experts believe that a varicocele on one side can affect sperm production in both the testicles.

Varicocele causes no signs or symptoms (it rarely causes pain) and thus goes unnoticed until you get yourself examined for infertility treatment or get a routine physical check-up. However, if you feel pain or swelling in the scrotum, or find a mass on your scrotum; you should see a doctor immediately. Varicocele can be diagnosed by physical examination or through an ultrasound.

Treatment Options

Surgery

Also known as Varicocelectomy, it can be done as open or laparoscopic surgery. Usually done on an outpatient basis under local or general anaesthesia, the urologist will go in through your abdomen or groin and clamp the abnormal veins. Blood can then flow around the abnormal veins to the normal ones.

Varicocele Embolization

Varicocele embolization is a less invasive procedure. A small catheter is inserted into a groin. A coil is then placed into the catheter and into the varicocele. This blocks blood from getting into the abnormal veins.

Candidates

Not all Varicoceles require treatment. You need surgery or embolization for varicocele ,if you suffer from:

Testicular pain
Testicular atrophy
When the varicocele is palpable
Infertility
Abnormal sperms

Procedure

Surgical ligation:

This procedure is performed by a urologist using surgical method. The incision runs from above the scrotum continuing down the testicular veins. These are sutured off and the patient can leave after an overnight stay usually. Complete recovery is in 2 to 3 weeks.

Varicocele embolization or catheter-directed embolization:

This is now a commonly used technique performed by an interventional radiologist. It is a non-surgical method of treatment. The patient is anesthetized locally and a catheter is introduced into the femoral vein and into the testicular vein directly. A contrast medium is injected for visualizing and imaging the embolization of the vein. Coils called sclerosants block the abnormal vein and decrease the pressure on varicocele. Therefore the blood flow to the abnormal vein is cut off and redirected to other pathways. The procedure usually takes 2 hours to complete.

Recovery

Recovery is quicker with embolization than with surgery. Pain is also milder but the recurrence rate is lower with open surgery than with embolization. Total recovery to resume work will take about a week for embolization, as for laparoscopic surgery and around two weeks for open surgery.

Results

The results with both procedures are best with resolution of the problem, though the chances of recurrence with embolization are possible rather than with surgical approach. The impact of the procedures is not yet clear on the fertility part, but it does improve the quality of the sperm.

Time & Cost

Embolization procedure can be done without an overnight hospital stay but, the surgical procedure requires the patient to stay overnight in the hospital. You would need about a week to ten days for varicocele treatment in India, recover and go back.

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Varicocele Treatment