Men's Fertility Treatments Ballarat
The team at Ballarat IVF Fertility Group are here to support your fertility journey with personalised care and a patient-focused approach.
Percutaneous Epididymal Sperm Aspiration (PESA)
This Day Case procedure is used to retrieve sperm from men who have had a vasectomy or other blockage of the vas deferens. A fine needle is placed into the epididymis to aspirate tiny pockets of sperm. This procedure is performed under a light general anaesthetic, but can also be performed under a local anaesthetic.
PESA does not collect enough sperm to achieve a normal conception and so the couple will have to undergo IVF treatment using ICSI. Any sperm collected can be frozen for use later.
95% of males undergoing PESA at Ballarat IVF have sperm successfully collected for IVF treatment. Men having a PESA procedure only need the day of the procedure off work.
Testicular Sperm Extraction (TESE)
This is similar to PESA, but tissue is taken directly from the testicle instead of the epididymis. A general or local anaesthetic is used. A fine needle is used to aspirate tissue from the testis, withdrawing some of the tubules that contain live sperm.
PESA and TESA procedures do not collect enough sperm to achieve a normal conception and so the couple will undergo IVF treatment, in particular using ICSI. Sperm collected using these procedures can be frozen for use later. One to two days off work should be allowed after a TESE.
Micro Dissection Testicular Sperm (micro-TESE)
Testicular Open Biopsy (TBX)
This procedure is performed when no sperm are present at the time of PESA It requires a general anaesthetic and admission to hospital. A larger amount of testicular tissue is removed.
Dependent on history, this is successful in up to 70% of men who have no sperm in the ejaculate and have no other signs of normal sperm production, and in over 90% of men who have had a previous vasectomy.