Clinical effectiveness of microsurgical subinguinal varicocelectomy with enhanced recovery after surgery for varicocele

Abstract

Background: Varicocele (VC) is one of the most common causes of infertility in men, and microscopic varicocelectomy is currently the major surgical procedure for VC. We assessed the clinical effectiveness of microsurgical subinguinal varicocelectomy (MSV) with enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) in the treatment of VC in terms of semen quality improvement rate, pregnancy rate, pain relief rate, recurrence rate, and complication rate after MSV and explored the indications for VC surgery. Methods: In total, 216 patients undergoing MSV in our center between June 2019 and July 2020 were enrolled in this study. All patients received the surgery under local anesthesia and were admitted and discharged within 24 hours. All patients were followed up for more than 6 months, and the rates of semen quality improvement, pregnancy, pain relief, recurrence, and postoperative complications were recorded. We can evaluate the pain degree of patients through the numerical rating scale (NRS). (I) 0 points for painless; (II) 1–3: mild pain; (III) 4–6: moderate pain; (IV) 7–10 points are severe pain. 0 is the most slightly, indicating comfort, and 10 is the most painful and unbearable. Results: The sperm concentration, total sperm count, progressive motility rate, sperm viability, and morphology were significantly improved after the surgery (all P values <0.05). The rate of semen quality improvement was 88.2%, and the semen indicators returned to normal in 26.6% of the patients. Among the patients who were followed up for 1 year, the natural conception rate reached 27.1% and was accompanied by a 95.5% pain relief rate, a 0.5% VC recurrence rate, and a 2.3% postoperative complication rate. We obtained data through laboratory examination of semen DNA fragments index (DFI). Compared with preoperative and postoperative DFI, postoperative DFI was improved, and the pregnancy outcome was improved. Conclusions: MSV under local anesthesia increases the rates of semen quality improvement, pregnancy, and pain relief while lowering the rates of recurrence and postoperative complications. MSV may also help to improve the pregnancy outcomes in patients with VC accompanied by sperm DNA fragmentation or nonobstructive azoospermia, but this should be verified by further investigation.