Background: In the era of improving assisted reproductive technology (ART), patients with obstructive azoospermia (OA) have 2 options: vasal repair or testicular sperm extraction with intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Vasal repair, including vasovasostomy (VV) and vasoepididymostomy (VE), is the only option that leads to natural conception.
Methods: This article reviews the surgical techniques, outcomes, and predictors of postoperative patency and pregnancy, with a focus on articles that have reported over the last 10 years, using PubMed database searches.
Main findings: The reported mean patency rate was 87% and the mean pregnancy rate was 49% for a patient following microscopic VV and/or VE for vasectomy reversal. Recently, robot-assisted techniques were introduced and have achieved a high rate of success. The predictors and predictive models of postoperative patency and pregnancy also have been reported. The obstructive interval, presence of a granuloma, and intraoperative sperm findings predict postoperative patency. These factors also predict postoperative fertility. In addition, the female partner's age and the same female partner correlate with pregnancy after surgery.
Conclusion: In the era of ART, the physician should present and discuss with both the patient with OA and his partner the most appropriate procedure to conceive by using these predictors.
Keywords: male infertility; obstructive azoospermia; vasectomy reversal; vasoepididymostomy; vasovasostomy.