Surgical aspects of infertility

These surgical procedures that have been used in the management of male infertility have recently been subjected to critical review. In a recent study (Getzoff, 1973) designed to summarise the experience of 150 urologists in the surgical treatment of male infertility, several valuable viewpoints were revealed. 1. There is a need for establishing criteria for labelling an operation as a 'success'. In this group, 42 per cent defined a successful operation as the postoperative appearance of a normal semen analysis in the azoospermic or oligospermic man regardless of whether his wife fails to conceive. Thirty per cent were more stringent and required that the wife become pregnant and carry to term a normal viable infant. 2. The prerequisites for selecting suitable candidates for surgery were apparent. 3. The significance of establishing basic effective operative techniques is self-evident. 4. The importance of emphasising the limitations of the surgical management of impaired fertility is stressed.