Why Not Use the Cheapest Vas Reversal Doctor in 2023?

This blog, written by microsurgical expert and author Dr. Sheldon Marks, reviews how the cost of a vasectomy reversal is really an investment in each couple’s future family with possible life long consequences for choosing a discount doctor based on dollars alone (1).

It is important to know that each doctor offers different vasectomy reversal success rates and levels of care, which translates to widely different chances for achieving the dream of children. There are many couples that choose the least expensive doctors and get great results with plenty of happy babies. But I see so many couples, usually two a week or more, for a redo after a failed first attempt elsewhere where the doctor was selected primarily because of a low cost.

Some “discount” cheaper doctors may cut corners in ways their patients wouldn’t want to know, which often means men may have a lower chance for vas reversal success rates and potentially increased risks for more complications. When looking for a heart surgeon for a persons’ father or a chemotherapy doctor for his daughter, does it make sense to shop around, looking for the cheapest doctor or is it more logical take the time to find the doctor with the highest vasectomy reversal success rates?

Considering what’s at stake, why settle for anything less than the doctor most likely to give each couple the highest chances for achieving their goal?

Of course, every doctor claims high vas reversal success rates.Just as scary, many doctors claim to have high success rates when they don’t even follow semen analysis results. Often there is no way to really know if they are being honest. It is important to know that many times it’s really just the doctor’s word that they are as good as other top vas reversal experts – many don’t publish their results in peer reviewed journals, they don’t belong to or even attend specialty male fertility society meetings to learn what’s new and any recent advances in microsurgery or care, many don’t perform essential steps in the vasectomy reversal technique, decision-making or provide critically important aftercare. Some quote our high vas reversal success rates as if it was their own.

Based on what we see when we perform redo vasectomy reversals where the first vas reversal attempt was performed elsewhere, we see what appears to be findings that suggest a less than precise technique. This always makes me wonder how these doctors can achieve a high success when the sutures did not appear to be precisely placed. Here at ICVR, we publish and present our results to our colleagues to improve patient care, such as these articles, abstracts and posters:

1. Mui P, Perkins A, Burrows PJ, Marks SF, Turek PJ. The need for epididymostomy at vasectomy reversal plateaus in older vasectomies: a study of 1229 cases. Androl 2014;2(1):25-9.

2. Crosnoe LE, Kim ED, Perkins AR, Marks MB, Burrows PJ, Marks SH. Angled vas cutter for vasovasostomy: technique and results. Fertil Steril 2014;101(3):636-639.

3. Ramasamy R, Mata DA, Jain L, Perkins AR, Marks SH, Lipshultz L. Microscopic visualization of intravasal spermatozoa is positively associated with patency after bilateral microsurgical vasovasostomy. I. Andrology. 2015 May;3(3):532-5

At ICVR, no one has to worry that the doctors are making claims that are not supported by facts, expert opinion and peer-reviewed, published literature. When each patient asks us questions, they get the truth, because they have a right to know the facts so that they can make an intelligent and informed decision about which doctor will provide the highest vasectomy reversal success rates, so that they can achieve the dream of children after vasectomy.

Don’t assume
As with anything in medicine, most everyone will be wrong if they assume that all doctors get the same vasectomy reversal results, because they don’t. Like any technically challenging skill, some will be more skilled or better at it than others. Not everyone that performs heart surgery or orthopedic surgery is the same. Some are better than others. Just the same, just because someone wants to fly a jet doesn’t mean he can do it without years of training, nor can those “called” to teach astronomy, quantum physics or be an NFL quarterback get to do it just because they feel the passion to do so.

Advanced precision urologic microsurgery is more than knowing what to do or having a desire to do it. Take the time to dig deeper, ask questions and find out if the doctors really are what they claim. Are they urologists? Have they completed a formal 1 to 2 year fellowship? Many times, prospective patients will be surprised what they discover.

When we perform redo vas reversals we often find that the first doctor used cheaper, much thicker sutures, used older and simpler techniques that lets them do a faster vas reversal. Based on our own experience with thousands of vas reversals and many hundreds of redo vasectomy reversals, I think that some simpler vasectomy reversal techniques may provide a good vas reversal success early on with higher rates of delayed scarring. Some, I am told by patients, provide no support or minimal staff or don’t provide critical after care – all I think are important for safety and necessary to achieve the very highest vasectomy reversal success rates.

Watch out for surprise bills
Just because it sounds less expensive is it really? We often hear horror stories from patients who had their first vas reversal by a much cheaper “expert” after they were quoted a low vasectomy reversal cost. Then to their surprise, unexpected bills may begin to arrive weeks to months later after the vasectomy reversal, sometimes up to many thousands of dollars for other costs and fees! There are also many doctors who surprise their patients with the news that additional or more complex surgery such as an epididymal bypass was performed and so now they owe additional hundreds to a thousand dollars more.

The good news is that at ICVR, we offer a fixed “no surprise” all-inclusive package price in 2023 for a state-of-the-art precision vasectomy reversal at our full time, vas reversal only center with a published success rate of up to 99.5%.

Find out the facts to make an intelligent, informed decision that is best for each couple. Call (888) 722-2929 . We are here to answer any questions and when ready, to set up a no cost consultation with one of our two doctors on Zoom, phone, an office visit, Face Time or Skype.

This page was reviewed, edited and updated January 4, 2023, by Sheldon Marks, MD.

Reference:

1. Marks SHF. Vasectomy Reversal: Manual of Vasovasostomy and Vasoepididymostomy. New York; Springer; 2018.