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Updated: Jan 5, 2026
Author Spotlight: Advancing Varicocele Treatment Through Enhanced Surgical Techniques
Published on: October 25, 2024
A comparative study between laparoscopic varicocelectomy and open varicocelectomy in a group of Iraqi patients
Mustafa U Abdulmageed1, Issam S Al-Azzawi2
1Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Al- Mustansiriya University, Baghdad, Iraq.
Objective:
To compare the post-operative outcomes of open inguinal versus laparoscopic varicocelectomy.
Methods:
The comparative prospective study was conducted from January 2016 to January 2018 at the Al-Yarmouk Teaching Hospital and a private hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, and comprised patients diagnosed with varicocele. Group A patients underwent laparoscopic varicocelectomy and Group B patients were treated with open inguinal varicocelectomy. All patients were followed up for a minimum of six months and parameters compared included operative time, post-operative need for analgesia, hospital stay, post-operative changes in seminal fluid parameters, complications of surgery, recurrence rate and patient satisfaction. SPSS 25 was used for data analysis.
Results:
Of the 60 patients, 20(33.3%) were in Group A and 40(66.6%) in Group B. Operative time was shorter in Group B (p=0.066), but it was shorter in Group A in cases of bilateral varicocele (p=0.005).Mean duration of analgesia need was significantly lower in Group A compared to Group B (p= 0.001). Significant post-operative improvement in sperm count and motility was detected in both groups (p<0.05).
Conclusions:
Both techniques were found to be effective in treating varicocele with a reasonable safety profile.
