A randomized clinical trial of the effect of intraoperative saline perfusion on postvasectomy azoospermia.

BACKGROUND We wanted to determine whether a saline flush during vasectomy would reduce the time needed to reach azoospermia. METHODS During vasectomy men were randomly assigned to flush the prostatic end of the vas deferens with 10 mL of normal saline (intervention group, n = 50), while the remaining men (n = 56) served as controls. Sperm counts were performed on the immediate postprocedure urine specimen and on semen samples at 1, 6, and 12 weeks after vasectomy. RESULTS The postprocedure urine specimens from the intervention and control groups contained 29.2 x 106 and 0.004 x 106 sperm, respectively (P < .001). Total sperm counts in the ejaculate for intervention and control groups at 1, 6, and 12 weeks were (in millions of sperm): 14.1 and 13.8, 0.4 and 8.0, and 0.0 and 0.011, respectively (P > .05 at all time points). There was no difference in the rate at which the men in the 2 groups achieved azoospermia. CONCLUSIONS Vasal perfusion with saline during vasectomy was effective in removing sperm from the distal vas; however, perfusion did not increase the rate at which men achieve azoospermia.