[Primary varicocele in children. The surgical indications]

Varicocele is an abnormal dilatation of the veins of the pampiniform plexus. It is a commonly diagnosed finding due to the augmentation of pediatric age in our institutions and to the better routine physical examinations. The influence of varicocele on infertility is very well known, because of oligospermia and low motility of the sperm. There are controversy on surgical indications in children, because the absence of semen analysis. Do we have to operate all patients with varicocele or only those with symptoms? We review 16 cases with varicocele, 9 of those underwent surgery. The surgical indications were those patients with scrotal pain, stage II and III of varicocele classification and patients with lesser size of ipsilateral testis. Surgical procedures were high ligation of spermatic veins in all cases. Clinical evolution hsa been excellent, up to date.