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1. About the Surgery:
Vasectomy reversal
is performed on an outpatient basis, either under local anesthesia in
our office or under general anesthesia at the Alamance Regional Medical
Center. Of course, the overall cost will be greater in the hospital. We
have a Professional Office and Surgery suite that is comfortable for
this surgical procedure. In an effort to make this procedure available
to more people desiring more children, we purchased the equipment
necessary to offer this procedure in our office. We use the finest
microsurgical instruments available for this procedure, optimizing your
chance for future fertility and pregnancy. We have received many
compliments from patients on how easy the process was for them. The
surgery center is located in Burlington, NC and is equipped with the latest,
state-of-the-art medical technology including a Carl Zeiss operating
microscope.
You will be asked
to arrive at the surgery center approximately one hour prior to surgery
and can usually leave within an hour after the procedure. The surgery
itself takes between one and a half to two hours to perform. You should
plan only a light breakfast on the day of surgery and nothing to eat or
drink for 2 hours prior to your scheduled surgery. Aspirin and ibuprofen
should be discontinued 10 days prior to any procedure as these
medications may act as anticoagulants and lead to an increase in
bleeding during or after surgery.
Dr. Daniel has
streamlined and refined the surgical process to the point where the
typical vasovasostomy takes approximately 1˝ -2 hours and a
vasoepididymostomy takes about 2˝- 3 hours to perform after the initial
setup and preparation. There are exceptions to these time estimates of
course depending on the individual patient. We will typically
perform no more than two reversals a day so you are our sole focus with no distractions.
We will make every effort to schedule your procedure as soon as
possible, and will contact you should we have time become available
before your scheduled surgery date. We are currently attempting to
make more times available and will be contacting people on our waiting
list for scheduling.
2. About Anesthesia:
This
procedure can safely be performed in the office under local anesthesia.
The scrotum is injected with local anesthesia much like it would have
been with the original vasectomy procedure. This causes a short term
burning sensation that goes away after about a second. After this, there
should be little additional discomfort. Many patients like to obtain
their pain medication prescription on the day of the initial
consultation. If this is done, you may elect to take two of these about
˝ hour before the procedure, as well as some additional sedatives which
will be provided. This is not necessary but does help some people relax
more. There is a CVS pharmacy less than a mile from our facility.
3. About the Surgeon:
Dr. Michael P.
Daniel performs all surgery personally placing every stitch himself.
Dr. Daniel personally cares for each patient before, during and after
surgery and can be reached by for emergencies or postoperative questions
24 hours a day. Dr. Daniel takes great pride in his successes and feels
it is his great privilege to care for each couple going through the
challenges and emotions of starting a family. He appreciates greatly
receiving photographs of your future children as well as comments as to
your experience and ideas for improving the experience for future
patients. Dr. Daniel is board certified by the American Board of
Urology.
4. About the
Microscope:
We utilize a Carl
Zeiss Surgical microscope, recognized as the best optics available. This
allows for accurate suture placement to be performed. We do not use
surgical loops which are essentially small binoculars affixed to a pair
of glasses. These do not offer the same degree of magnification and are
not powerful enough to accurately place sutures which can barely be seen
without magnification.
5. Closer Look at
Laser Vasectomy Reversal as regards Lasers:
Presently, there
is no accepted FDA approved technique that allows the ends of the vas to
be “welded” together using laser energy. There does not appear to be any
improvement in results compared with our 99% success rate with the
multi-layered microsurgical technique we currently use. If you examine
the ads for laser vasectomy reversal closely, one realizes that the
laser is not used to put the vas back together but just used to free the
vas from surrounding tissue and to remove the vasectomy scar. While this
is an important part of the procedure; it usually takes between 5-10
minutes to do with a scissor and micro-scalpel. It is conceivable that
the laser energy causes more damage to the vas tissue than a scalpel.
6. Accommodations:
We have arranged for a
special discount for our patients at the Comfort Inn in Burlington.
This is a very clean and new facility located less than 500 yards from our
office. It
is located at 2701 Kirkpatrick Road, Burlington, NC 27215. The telephone
number is (336) 584-4447, or you may contact them at comfortbrlnc@ctc.net. The Raleigh-Durham Airport (RDU) is about 45 miles to our east on Interstate-40 if you are arriving by commercial
air. There is a large private airport in Burlington about 2 miles from
the Burlington office if arriving by private aircraft. The
Greensboro Triad Airport (GSO) is about 35 miles west.
7. Post-Operative Care:
After the
procedure, you will return to your hotel room if you are from out of the
area or to your home. I like you to relax as best you can under the
circumstances and really not do very much that day. Use an ice pack 20
minutes on, 20 minutes off for as much as possible that day. You may
continue to use it the following day if you find it helping with the
discomfort. In most cases, you will be able to return home the day
following the procedure. I would like for you to abstain from
ejaculation for a minimum of 2 weeks following the procedure. It is
ideal if you are able to abstain for a month although I know this may be
difficult. The
stitches will dissolve in about the same amount of time and come out by
themselves. This may cause some itching. You may shower on the night
of surgery but I do not want you to take a tub bath for at least a
week. You may take the pain medication provided as needed or if it is
too strong, a non-steroidal or Tylenol may be preferred. I like to
perform a semen analysis about 3-4 months following the procedure. If
you have traveled a great distance, this may be able to be performed in
your area if it is more convenient.
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