Sutureless vasovasostomy: new technique using experimental microclip in rat model

Standard microscopic suture vasovasostomy represents a challenge to many urologists. It is technically demanding, and requires two to five hours of operative time. In an attempt to decrease the technical demand and the time requirement, we report the use of a microvascular anastomotic clip and compare this microclip to a standard eight-suture nonstented technique and a six-suture stented technique using a hollow, absorbable 0.5-mm polyglycolic acid stent. The control group with suture required an average of 38.5 minutes per anastomosis for the nonstented group and twenty-two minutes for the stented group. The clip group required 7.6 minutes for the unstented vasovasostomy and 6.5 minutes for the stented vasovasostomy. We obtained a 91 percent patency rate for the stented clip group and 100 percent patency for the unstented clip group. In a rat vasovasostomy, the operative time as well as the inherent technical demand were significantly reduced.