Treatment of Persistent or Recurrent Varicoceles: A Systematic Review

The outcomes and morbidity following treatment for persistent or varicocele recurrence remain controversial.

To conduct a systematic review relating to the outcomes following treatment (any surgical or radiological) for varicocele persistence/recurrence.

A systematic review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses statement. Prospective and retrospective observational or interventional studies were included until March 2022. Outcomes were pregnancy rate, improvements in semen parameters after treatment compared with those at baseline, pain control, complication rates, and repeat treatment approach. Men of any age with any-grade persistent/recurrent varicoceles were included.

Of 913 articles identified, 18 with 1073 patients were eligible for inclusion. The mean time between the first and repeat treatment ranged between 5.3 and 73.3 months. The indication for repeat treatment was infertility in eight and pain control in six out of 18 studies, whereas four did not provide details for the indication. Of the patients with recurrent/persistent varicoceles initially treated using a radiological intervention, 83.8% underwent another radiological procedure, whereas 16.2% underwent a surgical procedure. Of those initially treated with a surgical procedure, 77.8% underwent a further surgical procedure, whereas 22.2% underwent a radiological procedure. The rate of success of repeat treatment was 60-100%. The reported complications were as follows: hydrocele (up to 16%), testicular atrophy (up to 2%), scrotal hematoma (up to 1.6%), wound infection (up to 6.6%), chronic pain (up to 2.9%), injury to other organs (up to 10%), and thrombophlebitis (up to 5.8%). The rate of symptom resolution was >90% for pain control. Pregnancy rates were 17-58% at 12-month follow-up. Semen parameters improved after repeat treatment compared with that at baseline in 87.5% of studies. The main limitations are the high risk of bias according to the Newcastle and Ottawa Scale, heterogeneity of the included studies, and small simple size.

Treating any grade of persistent/recurrent varicoceles has a good rate of success, pregnancy, and pain control, but there is still a risk of complications. Repeat treatment with the same interventional modality is feasible. The level of evidence is overall low.

In this systematic review on persistent or recurrent varicoceles, we showed that repeat treatment with radiological or surgical procedures was feasible, with good success, pregnancy, and pain control rates at follow-up. However, repeat treatment was associated with a higher risk of complications than reported in the published literature relating to patients having their first intervention.