Contribution of amniotic membrane to the healing of iatrogenic vas deferens injury

BACKGROUND/AIM: Iatrogenic vas deferens injury is one of the most serious complications of operations in the inguinal region. Vasovasostomy is performed as treatment. However, stenosis is common after vasovasostomy. Oligospermia or azoospermia may develop and result in infertility. This study aimed to investigate the effect of amniotic membrane on healing in vas deferens injuries. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four groups consisting of 10 rats each were formed. No procedure was performed in Group-I. In Group-II, the left vas deferens was transected and left to spontaneous healing. In Group-III, the left vas deferens was transected, and end-to-end anastomosis was performed. In Group-IV, the left vas deferens was transected, end-to-end anastomosis was performed, and it was closed with a wrapping of amniotic membrane on the anastomosis line. Rats were sacrificed after 60 days, and each left vas deferens was evaluated. Lumen patency was checked by passing methylene blue through the vas deferens. Subsequently, the vas deferens was evaluated both macroscopically and histopathologically. Data were evaluated using SPSS version 21.0. p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant for all variables. RESULTS: The anastomosis lines in Group-IV healed better than those in Group-III, and less stenosis was observed. There were differences between the groups in terms of luminal patency (p = 0.009), adhesions to surrounding tissues (p = 0.02) and separation of the ends of the vas deferens (p = 0.03). CONCLUSION: We observed improvement on luminal patency and histology of rat vas deferens injury after surrounding human amniotic membrane on the transected and repaired surface. Further studies are needed to apply this promising result on human beings.