Only One Vasectomy Reversal a Day, and Why This Is So Important

This page, by international vas reversal expert and author Dr. Sheldon Marks, explains the reason why here at ICVR, both doctors limit their practice to only one vasectomy reversal a day so that we can give every patient the very highest vasectomy reversal success rates.

The Patient is the Reason for the Day

We are not now, nor do we ever intend to follow the “factory” approach where the doctor performs as many vas reversals as he or she can in a day. Going fast and surgery volume are not the goal. We are here to give each and every patient the very highest chances for a successful vas reversal so that they can achieve the dream of children.

Drs. Marks and Burrows choose to each perform just one vasectomy reversal a day. This way, they have the luxury of time to do whatever is needed, based how each patient’s body has responded to the years of blockage, with excellent results even many years from vasectomy (1). There is no way to know ahead of time which vas reversals will be straightforward and which can be challenging and require an hour or two longer than the usual 2 to 2.5 hour surgery time.

Doing it Right
This one-a-day approach allows the doctor to provide the highest level of attention to detail to perform the most precise 3 to 4 layer microsurgical vasectomy reversal possible at our “Center of Excellence.” By limiting his practice to only one vas reversal a day, the doctor can do whatever needs to be done, whether a vas-to-vas or a more intense and technically challenging epididymal bypass (2), without the pressure to rush to get to the next cases or being fatigued from earlier vas reversals. This is just one reason we can achieve up to a 99.5% success rate (3,4) for vas-to-vas connections.

Most Don’t Realize
The insider secret is that most hospitals and surgery centers as well as many clinics get paid by how many surgeries they can perform in a day, sometimes up to 12 to 15 or more. They don’t get paid by the doctors results. At these facilities or anywhere where multiple surgeries are scheduled, the doctors and anesthesiologists are under pressure to move fast and finish each case quickly within the scheduled time. If the surgery takes longer than expected, it can delay and upset other doctors waiting to follow to do their own surgeries. Every doctor knows the look when the OR director tells the surgeon to hurry up and finish.

Considering what’s at stake, why settle for anything less than the best?

For more information about precision, personalized vasectomy reversals here at ICVR, to answer any questions so that couples can make an intelligent, informed decision or to schedule a free consultation with one of our two urologic microsurgeons, please call (888) 722-2929 .

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

References:

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. Andrology 2014;2(1):25-9.
2. Chawla A, O’Brien J, Lisi M, Zini A, Jarvi K.Should all urologist performing vasectomy reversal be able to perform vasoepididymostomies if required? J Urol 2004;172(3):1048- 50.
3. 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.
4. Marks SHF. Vasectomy Reversal: Manual of Vasovasostomy and Vasoepididymostomy. New York; Springer; 2018.