Causes male infertility due to blockage
Twisting, swelling or scarring from an injury or infection can block the testicular tubes. Azoospermia can be caused by missing tubes (Congenital Absence of the as Deferens, or CAVD), vasectomy or a failed vasectomy reversal.
Symptoms of male infertility due to blockage
There may be no noticeable symptoms of blockages that cause male infertility. A man will still ejaculate during intercourse, but due to blockage, there would be no sperm in the ejaculate.
Treatment for male infertility due to blockage
We can conduct a a variety of non-invasive testing to diagnose a blockage in the tubes.
If the blockage cannot be cleared with microsurgery, sperm may be gathered by surgical procedures and used for in vitro fertilization.
Surgical procedures include:
- Microepdidymal Sperm Aspiration (MESA): A procedure that gathers sperm from the duct that stores and transports sperm from the testes to the vas deferens.
- Percutaneous Epdidymal Sperm Aspiration (PESA): The insertion of a needle through the scrotum into the epididymis, where sperm are stored prior to reaching the vas deferens.
- Testicular Excisional Sperm Extraction (TESE): Removal of a small amount of testicular tissue from which sperm may be extracted. This is not normally performed for blockages, but can be used in cases where azoospermia is caused by testicular failure, an uncommon condition.
- Testicular Excisional Sperm Aspiration (TESA): A needle is used to gather sperm directly from the testes. This is similar to TESE, except tissue is not removed.
In many cases, a single viable sperm can be directly injected into a woman’s egg in a technique called intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). The fertilized egg is then matured into an embryo and transferred to the woman’s uterus using IVF techniques.
