The Incidence of Fever after Subinguinal Microsurgical Varicocelectomy

PURPOSE: In the present study, we aimed to identify the incidence of fever in patients after subinguinal microsurgical varicocelectomy and to evaluate the clinical factors associated with the occurrence of the fever. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the cases of patients who underwent subinguinal microsurgical varicocelectomy (group A) under spinal anesthesia. In addition, we reviewed the cases of patients who underwent microsurgical vasovasostomy under spinal anesthesia as a control group (group B). The incidence of fever in each group was compared. We investigated the clinical factors influencing the occurrence of fever in the patients of group A. RESULTS: The incidence of fever in group A was significantly higher than that in group B (32.5% [53/163] vs. 0.4% [1/284]; p<0.001). Clinical factors such as age, varicocele grade, weight, height, operation time, number of ligated veins, usage of immediate postoperative analgesics, presence of postoperative hematoma, and duration of hospital stay were not significantly associated with the occurrence of fever. CONCLUSIONS: We found that one-third of the patients developed transient fever after subinguinal microsurgical varicocelectomy, and therefore, this information should be provided during preoperative counseling.