CLINICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND SURGICAL OUTCOMES IN PATIENTS WITH VARICOCELE

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Department of General Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Egypt

Abstract

Purpose: To compare clinical characteristics and surgical results in adolescents and adults with varicocele.
Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the characteristics of 77 patients, 26 adolescents (mean 
age, 14.4±2.1 years) and 51 adults (mean age, 30.4±12.4 years), who underwent surgical repair of varicocele 
between December 2010 and May 2011 in Al-Azhar university hospital (asuite bransh) and Sohag Hospital. 
Median follow-up time in all patients was 16.5 months. The most bothersome symptoms, bilaterality, grades, 
surgical methods, artery-sparing rates, operation times, semen analysis, success rates, and recurrence-free 
period were compared between the two groups.
Results: The overall success rate of surgical repair was 92.5%. The most bothersome symptoms were scrotal 
mass, pain, and hypotrophy in adolescents and pain, scrotal mass, infertility, and hypotrophy in adults 
(p=0.008). There were no significant between-group differences in bilaterality, grades, surgical methods, 
operation times, pre- or postoperative semen analyses, success rates, or recurrence-free periods. Patients who 
underwent artery-sparing surgery had higher recurrence rates than did those who underwent surgery that 
did not spare arteries. In adults, semen density increased significantly after surgery, from 35.6 million/ml to 
49.6 million/ml (p=0.046).
Conclusions: There were no significant differences in clinical characteristics or surgical results between 
adolescents and adults with varicocele, except for the most bothersome symptoms. Semen density increased 
after surgery in both groups. 

Keywords

The Egyptian Journal of Surgery
Volume 32, Issue 1
January 2013
Pages 62-67

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