Varicocelectomy

Varicocelectomy is an outpatient procedure to correct abnormally enlarged veins within the scrotum that are called varicoceles. Not unlike a varicose vein in your leg, varicoceles are very common and often don’t cause any major problems. However, larger varicoceles can cause discomfort along with impaired male fertility and low testosterone levels, and may be a sign that something else like a tumor is causing a blockage to occur. Surgical repair of the varicocele may be achieved via an embolization procedure (where veins that feed the varicocele are blocked), via laparoscopic varicocele ligation, or via an advanced approach called microsurgical subinguinal varicocele ligation. In the latter approach, each of the veins that supply the varicocele are located and divided while avoiding harm to healthy muscles and other surrounding structures. This not only has the benefit of causing less post-operative pain but also lessens the likelihood of the patient developing a hernia at some time in the future.