VASECTOMY REVERSAL COST &
vasectomy reversal SUCCESS RATE
Is a Vasectomy Reversable?
Many people are told at the time of their vasectomies that their vasectomy cannot be reversed. Many physicians, who do not perform vasectomy reversal procedures as often as we do, will reinforce the same message. Couples often receive less than expert opinions when they ask the question, “Is a vasectomy reversible?” Every day, calls and emails are made inquiring about our vasectomy reversal procedures. There is really no way to know that your vasectomy cannot be reversed at the time of your vasectomy, unless something unethical was done. To date, we have never found a normal vasectomy that could not be reversed. In our experience, vasectomies can all be reversed, although we would agree that some can be much more difficult than others.
There is also no time expiration for when a vasectomy can no longer be reversed. To date, the oldest vasectomy we have reversed was performed 52 years ago! We strive to allow our patients the opportunity to revisit the decision to reproduce or reverse a prior decision that they now regret.
Fortunately or unfortunately, people make mistakes. We make mistakes in who we marry. We make mistakes in how we choose to limit our reproduction. When we remarry, many men find their prior decisions feel unfair to their new spouse. Some couples will simply say that they made the wrong decision in haste, and not explain further. There are many other reasons men desire to have their vasectomies reversed as well, including post vasectomy pain and religious reasons as well. It is not uncommon for men to experience various types of pain following a vasectomy. They are rarely told this when they undergo the vasectomy. Vasectomy reversal usually alleviates this problem quite well and is truly the only effective treatment available, short of removal of the testis itself.
At Carolina Vasectomy Reversal, the goal is to not only performing successful vasectomy reversals, but to also promote a healthy recovery to maximize your chances of long term fertility. It is very important not to resume strenuous activity too soon. This procedure is too important and too costly not to follow directions and allow adequate time for recovery. If you cannot take proper care after surgery to prevent injury, please wait until you can, before having this procedure performed. Abstaining from physical activity during recovery includes work related activities as well.
What is the VASECTOMY REVERSAL Success Rate and how does it compare to ivf?
Your ultimate success depends on how the testicles work, how the vasectomy was performed, how you care for yourself following surgery, and how the reversal was performed. The accuracy of the reversal is critical, but so is your willingness to let allow proper healing. Large sutures are not as precise as smaller ones, but sutures that are too small do not have enough strength to hold. Stabilizing sutures intended to take tension off the anastomosis can interfere with the longitudinal blood supply of the vas and damage the vas. Absorbable sutures used to reconnect the vas also commonly fail, mainly because they dissolve with an inflammatory reaction causing scarring inside the vas. We only use absorbable sutures to close the skin incisions, allowing you to leave without needing to make a return visit to have them removed.
We use very small permanent sutures to reconnect the vas as they are the least reactive with the tissue and cause the least amount of scar. We purchase only the finest suture available. Dr. Daniel will use between 20 and 30 extremely small sutures around the of the vas, an opening smaller than a very fine point pen tip would be. This allows for a more precise and water tight closure. Although scarring can still develop, the likelihood is significantly less than when using other techniques. Using sutures of appropriate size to reconnect the vas requires the use of a considerable amount of magnification with a high quality surgical microscope.
IVF procedures usually cost about $25,000 to $30,000. In the early 90’s, that number was close to the cost of a hospital reversal without the surgeons fee. For that price, you would think it was better, but that’s simply not true for most people. About 20-25% of IVF procedures performed are successful in even the best series. There is 100% followup so those numbers are very real. It is usually quoted that 3-5 rounds of IVF are about equal to a reversal procedure, saying basically the same thing a different way. You also have about 5 embryos that are destroyed for every one that survives, and may go through what is called selective reduction, where excess viable embryos are injected to destroy them in order to promote another embryo. It can be an option, but it certainly should not be offered as your only option as is frequently the case.
Before scheduling a reversal procedure with any surgeon, you should be sure to ask if they are able to perform a bypass procedure if needed. Patients are often told that their reversal did not work because they needed a bypass procedure when the original reversal was performed. We would much rather have you come to us for your initial reversal rather than have you come to us for a second procedure.
Let us be clear, not everyone will require a bypass procedure. However, if during your reversal we see that a bypass procedure is the correct procedure for you, that is the procedure that will be performed by Dr. Daniel, and you will not be charged an additional fee.
HOW SOON CAN WE HAVE SEX?
The longer you wait, the better? Well, not exactly! The reason we ask you to abstain from sexual activity for 30 days following the vasectomy reversal procedure is strictly based on physiology of healing; it just takes that long for the collagen fibers to give the tissue enough strength beyond just the suture material. It actually takes about 90 days to reach 80% of normal, but if we told men to wait 90 days before resuming sexual activity, we would not be performing vasectomy reversals very often, much less every day.
CAN I GET A VASECTOMY REVERSAL NEAR ME?
Perhaps, but getting your procedure done correctly the first time is of great importance. We are frequently asked about re-do procedures when the first procedure was done somewhere else, but the ultimate success of vasectomy reversal is usually greater with a first procedure and is obviously less costly than having two. There are times when the success of a vasectomy reversal can be nearly the same twice, but this is not always the case. It is usually possible to add the cost of flying into the Savannah airport to the cost of a reversal and still save money knowing you are getting an expert who only does vasectomy reversal surgery, not someone doing all things urology or all things fertility.
What is the Cost OF A VASECTOMY REVERSAL?
We keep this simple. We quote one low fee for the total vasectomy reversal procedure. We do not add a facility fee, microscope fee, supply fee, or any other fee. We do not quote numbers that only later are revealed to not include another hidden cost. There are quite a few components to the cost of this type of surgery. The problem is that the total cost is all that really matters. Telling you what one procedure costs versus another or not telling you the extra costs is not really very helpful.
When you call our office, our staff will be happy to tell you exactly what your cost will be for this procedure and what is included in that fee. This is very important. The cost of anything without knowing what is or is not included is not helpful. In fairness, you cannot compare costs without this information.
We will NOT quote you a separate facility charge.
We will NOT quote you a separate fee for your consultation.
We will NOT add on a supply or pharmaceutical fee. The only cost that will not be included in the pricing you are given will be for the generic medication prescriptions you will be sent to pick up at a pharmacy close to our facility.
We will NOT add on any additional anesthesia fees.
We will NOT change the fee if a more complicated bypass type procedure is indicated!
We will NOT quote you a fee that includes only one testicle!
We will NOT charge you extra for the use of our surgical microscope!
Our one low price includes everything with no surprises!
Owning our own surgical facility and all of our equipment allows us to offer this surgery at a substantial discount to what is available in a hospital or outpatient surgical center. In all actuality, this allows us to offer better quality suture, surgical instrumentation, surgical lightning, and the highest quality surgical microscope available since Dr. Daniel has complete control over the selection and purchase of these items. We strive to make the whole process as convenient as possible, while offering the highest level of service. Please call today for more information!