Varicocele: To go for surgery or not?

'If the varicocele is affecting the quality of semen, then we would recommend surgery'

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A reader asks: Doctor, I am 21-year-old male and have varicocele. Need an advice whether it is necessary to undergo surgery or not? Some say yes and some say no! what's your opinion?

Dr Amgad Farouk, Head of Department  and Consultant Urologist, Medcare Hospital, answers: In general, varicocele affects 15 per cent of males all over the world and is responsible for 35 per cent cases of primary infertility and 80 per cent cases of secondary infertility.

When there is varicocele, it can cause the patient some amount of pain. Further, it can impair his semen quality. It is not necessary that every patient who has varicocele would need surgery. But if the varicocele is impairing the person’s quality of life and is giving him testicular pain, we would recommend a surgery in order to improve his quality of life.

If the varicocele is affecting the quality of semen, causing any decrease in the number or decrease in the motility or increase in the abnormal forms, we would recommend surgery. When we have impaired semen quality in the presence of varicocele, surgery would need to be performed.

Firstly, in your case, we will need to do a scrotal ultra sound to see the degree of the varicocele, and we may need to do a semen analysis. If the semen analysis does not show normal parameters, then we may need to proceed for varicocele surgery. But if the semen analysis is fine, and at the same time it is not impairing your quality of life, you may only require follow ups.

But in your particular case, as you are only 21, we will need to do the scrotal ultra sound post which we may need to go for surgery mainly because you are still young. Even if this varicocele is not affecting the semen quality today, it may affect the semen quality tomorrow. Hence, a surgery may in fact be required.

DisclaimerThis blog is a conversation and is not an alternative for treatment. The recommendations and suggestions offered by our panel of doctors are their own and Gulf News will not take any responsibility for the advice they provide.

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