Dr Bruce Stewart has been providing a vasectomy service to the men of the Manawatu District and beyond for many years. He is very experienced in the procedure and uses the latest “no scalpel” technique and diathermy equipment.

The service has been further enhanced since the move to the modern ‘state of the art’ Feilding Health Care facility in Duke Street Feilding.

We provide a comprehensive vasectomy service with an initial pre procedure appointment to discuss the procedure and to ensure it is the right choice for you and your family. The procedure itself take a little over 30 minutes but we allow plenty of time – it’s not a race!

We follow up after the procedure to ensure all has gone well and to test for when it is safe to stop contraception.

Partners are more than welcome at the initial consultation and at the procedure (your choice)!

If you are interested in more information about the Feilding Health Care vasectomy service read the information below or contact us for a brochure or make an appointment to see Dr Stewart at the clinic.

A recent patient experience

“I found the whole procedure, right from the initial consultation to the vasectomy itself very comfortable. The staff and services were first class and I was kept fully informed throughout. My doctor followed up with me later that evening and any concerns I had were addressed immediately. I would wholeheartedly recommend the team at FHC to anyone considering this procedure.“

 

Feilding Health Care Vasectomy – What’s it about?

Vasectomy is a surgical procedure to make men sterile, so they will be unable to cause pregnancy in their current or future partners. The operation stops sperm being transported from the testicle to the sperm storage area (seminal vesicles) by cutting and sealing off the sperm transport tube (vas deferens). Vasectomy does not affect production of testosterone (the male hormone) nor affect the production of the fluid men ejaculate. It has no effect on the man’s, masculinity, sex drive or ability to get an erection or ejaculate.

In the normal man 90% of the sperm produced never leave the testicle and are broken down and absorbed by the tubes leading from the testes. After a vasectomy this becomes 100%, so vasectomy does not cause a major change in function of the testes.

Men should consider this a permanent solution to contraception, vasectomies can be reversed but only about 60% of couples will achieve a successful pregnancy after a reversal, and reversal is a very expensive procedure and is not available in the public hospital system. Some couples opt for a sperm donation to be stored “just in case”. This can be arranged through a private fertility clinic, there is a fee for the collection and an annual fee to store the sperm sample.

After Vasectomy sterility usually takes around 8 to 12 weeks to occur, this will be slower if you don’t ejaculate much, and we recommend 15-20 ejaculations before starting the post vasectomy semen tests. Contraception MUST not be stopped until the post vasectomy testing has been done AND you have been advised by us that it is time to stop contraception.

There is a failure rate with vasectomy due to the tubes joining back together again after the surgery. The failure rate is low – around 1 in 2000 cases. In comparison tubal ligation (the female sterilization operation) fails 2 to 3 times more often.

Complications following vasectomy are not common.

Some discomfort, bruising and swelling is expected in the day or two immediately after the operation but they should not be severe, and can be minimized by following the post operation care plan.

Rare complications include infection at the operation site, aching discomfort in the testes or in the lower abdomen and sperm granuloma.

Sperm granuloma are harmless pea sized scar lumps which appear at the cut end of the vas tube these eventually disappear and cause no long term problems.

Extensive research has shown that there is NO relationship between having a vasectomy and the risk of developing cancer of the prostate gland or testicle.

Feilding Health Care Vasectomy– How’s it done?

Initial Appointment

All men wanting a vasectomy must have a pre-operation consultation; partners are welcome and encouraged to come along. There is a fee for this appointment which is additional to the vasectomy procedure fee.

The procedure risk benefits and process following vasectomy will be fully discussed and your questions answered.

The scrotum will be examined to make sure that both vas deferens tubes can be easily found.

You will be required to sign an operation consent form once all questions and issues have been discussed.

Prior to Vasectomy

Ejaculation a few hours before the operation is helpful in achieving sterility earlier.

The Pubic area and scrotum needs to be shaved – this reduces the chance of infection and makes the procedure much easier (no forest in the way). Shaving is best done either the night before or the morning of the operation.

Please arrive a bit early for the operation, late arrivals makes for grumpy surgeons!!

Bring tight underwear to put on after the surgery – cycle or lyrca shorts are great.

The Procedure

Each side is done separately- the whole procedure take around 35 minutes but we put a whole hour aside as there is some setup and finish time required- it’s not a race! We use a non scalpel method, local anaesthetic is injected into the skin around the vas tube using a very tiny needle – this should be the only discomfort you feel.

Once the skin is asleep it is opened using a sharp instrument we use another instrument to grasp the vas tube and pull it through the skin. The coverings around the tube are then split open and the tube is cauterized to close it off. One end of the tube is then hidden away in a ‘tissue bag’ made out of tissue coverings that normally surrounds the tube. A dissolvable stitch is used to close this bag. We do not stitch the skin as this will heal well on its own.

After the operation

A gauze pad will be placed over the wounds and tight underwear should be worn to apply pressure to the area.

When you get home after the procedure we suggest that every 2 hours or so, the tight shorts and gauze pad should be removed and an ice pack (with towel wrapped around it) applied to the wounds for 20 to 30 minutes. The gauze and tight shorts are then reapplied until the next icing. This process will help reduce swelling bruising and discomfort and will aid you getting back to work ASAP.

If you need some pain relief use paracetamol (Panadol, Pamol Paracare) not aspirin or nurofen as these drugs can make you more likely to bruise.

If you think bleeding swelling or discomfort is excessive you should contact Feilding Health Care for advice.

NO sport, sex or heavy exertion for a week after the operation. Remember you CANT stop CONTRACEPTION until we are sure sterility has been achieved.

We will contact you after the vasectomy to make sure all is well with no issues. If there are any complications, which is very rare, we will see you at the clinic for follow up.

Post Vasectomy testing is usually 2 ejaculate collections 2 weeks apart starting at 3 months after the operation. An information sheet about this will be provided at the vasectomy.

The test results will be notified to you by phone.