Unilateral Versus Bilateral Vasoepididymal Anastomosis for Idiopathic Obstructive Azoospermia: A Randomised Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND: Men with idiopathic obstructive azoospermia (OA) are candidates for surgical reconstruction with a vasoepididymal anastomosis (VEA) performed on one or both testis. There are no randomised trials comparing the success of unilateral versus bilateral VEA. OBJECTIVE: We conducted a randomised trial to compare the two surgical options. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Between April 2017 and March 2022, men with infertility due to idiopathic OA were randomised to a unilateral (group 1) or bilateral (group 2) VEA in an ethics committee–approved clinical trial, registered with the Clinical Trials Registry. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The primary outcome was successful surgery, defined as appearance of sperm in the ejaculate, evaluated at 3 mo intervals after surgery. Additional outcomes were pregnancy rates and complications between the two groups. Men with successful surgery were compared with those without patency to identify the predictors of success. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: Fifty-four men fulfilled the criteria and 52 who completed follow-up were included in the analysis. The overall patency rate was 36.5% (19/52 individuals). This was higher in men with bilateral surgery (12/26 patients, 46%) than in those with unilateral surgery (7/26 patients, 27%) but was not statistically significant (p = 0.1). The overall pregnancy rate with ejaculated sperm was significantly higher in the bilateral surgery group (4 vs 0, p = 0.037), while the spontaneous conception rate was higher but not statistically significant (3 vs 0, p = 0.074). The complication rates in the two groups were similar (p = 0.7), and all complications were Clavien-Dindo grade 1. Although bilateral surgery and presence of sperm in epididymal fluid were higher in men with patency, these were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: A bilateral VEA was associated with higher patency and spontaneous pregnancy rates than unilateral surgery, but the results were not statistically significant. However, the overall pregnancy rate with ejaculated sperm, spontaneous and assisted, was significantly higher in the bilateral surgery group. PATIENT SUMMARY: In this study, we compared between unilateral and bilateral reconstructive surgery in azoospermic men and found better overall success with bilateral surgery. However, these results were not statistically significant.