OBJECTIVE: The American Urologic Association (AUA) Vasectomy Guidelines recommend that a post-vasectomy semen analysis (PVSA) be done 8-16 weeks after vasectomy with either azoospermia or <100,000 non-motile sperm/mL serving as the criteria for vasectomy success. 1 The impact of the period of abstinence (POA) on the results of a PVSA is unknown. A short POA prior to PVSA may serve as a marker of higher sexual activity (i.e. more ejaculations) in the post-vasectomy interval and thus lead to an increased chance of an acceptable PVSA. However, while studies have shown alterations in sperm concentration and motility with variable POAs for a routine semen analysis, it is unclear if POA has an impact on the chance of finding <100,000 non-motile sperm/mL on PVSA.DESIGN: Retrospective review of patients who had a vasectomy by a single urologist.MATERIALS AND METHODS: With institutional board approval, the PVSAs of men who had a vasectomy by a single urologist between January 2000 and July 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. Information was collected on the time since vasectomy, days of abstinence prior to collection, sperm count, and motility. Student t-tests were performed to examine the impact of POA on PVSA.RESULTS: In total, 875 men who underwent a vasectomy returned for a PVSA. Of these, 794 men (90.7%) had a PVSA demonstrating azoospermia and 48 (5.5%) had >100,000 sperm/mL or motile sperm. In the azoospermic men, the mean time since vasectomy was 151 days (range 10-1989) compared to 100 days (range 24-189) in those with >100,000 sperm or motile sperm (p ¼ 0.15), and no difference in the POA was observed (4.4 vs 5.3 days respectively, p ¼ 0.27). When examining men whose PVSA was done within the recommended 8-16 weeks after vasectomy, no difference in the POA between men with azoospermia and those with >100,000 sperm/ mL or motile sperm was observed (3.4 vs 3.3 days, p ¼ 0.84). Even when azoospermic men were compared to those with the presence of any sperm on PVSA, there was no difference in the POA (3.4 vs 3.5 days, p ¼ 0.84). Of those men tested < 8 weeks after vasectomy, 23/25 were azoospermic with intervals since vasectomy as short as 10 days and 2/25 demonstrated >100,000 sperm/mL or motile sperm.CONCLUSIONS: The POA does not appear to affect the results of a PVSA. As such, the length of the POA does not need to be considered with regards to when men should provide a PVSA.
OBJECTIVE: The American Urologic Association (AUA) Vasectomy Guidelines recommend that a post-vasectomy semen analysis (PVSA) be done 8-16 weeks after vasectomy with either azoospermia or <100,000 non-motile sperm/mL serving as the criteria for vasectomy success. 1 The impact of the period of abstinence (POA) on the results of a PVSA is unknown. A short POA prior to PVSA may serve as a marker of higher sexual activity (i.e. more ejaculations) in the post-vasectomy interval and thus lead to an increased chance of an acceptable PVSA. However, while studies have shown alterations in sperm concentration and motility with variable POAs for a routine semen analysis, it is unclear if POA has an impact on the chance of finding <100,000 non-motile sperm/mL on PVSA. DESIGN: Retrospective review of patients who had a vasectomy by a single urologist. MATERIALS AND METHODS: With institutional board approval, the PVSAs of men who had a vasectomy by a single urologist between January 2000 and July 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. Information was collected on the time since vasectomy, days of abstinence prior to collection, sperm count, and motility. Student t-tests were performed to examine the impact of POA on PVSA. RESULTS: In total, 875 men who underwent a vasectomy returned for a PVSA. Of these, 794 men (90.7%) had a PVSA demonstrating azoospermia and 48 (5.5%) had >100,000 sperm/mL or motile sperm. In the azoospermic men, the mean time since vasectomy was 151 days (range 10-1989) compared to 100 days (range 24-189) in those with >100,000 sperm or motile sperm (p ¼ 0.15), and no difference in the POA was observed (4.4 vs 5.3 days respectively, p ¼ 0.27). When examining men whose PVSA was done within the recommended 8-16 weeks after vasectomy, no difference in the POA between men with azoospermia and those with >100,000 sperm/ mL or motile sperm was observed (3.4 vs 3.3 days, p ¼ 0.84). Even when azoospermic men were compared to those with the presence of any sperm on PVSA, there was no difference in the POA (3.4 vs 3.5 days, p ¼ 0.84). Of those men tested < 8 weeks after vasectomy, 23/25 were azoospermic with intervals since vasectomy as short as 10 days and 2/25 demonstrated >100,000 sperm/mL or motile sperm. CONCLUSIONS: The POA does not appear to affect the results of a PVSA. As such, the length of the POA does not need to be considered with regards to when men should provide a PVSA.
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