Post-vasectomy pain syndrome is a complication of a vasectomy, a minor surgery to block sperm from reaching the semen ejaculated from the penis.

Causes

• Infection: Body parts along the cord that carries blood vessels and nerves to the testicle may be damaged by inflammation.
• Nerve compression: The nerves to the testicle may narrow.
• Back pressure: The tube that carries sperm from each testicle is cut during vasectomy, and in some cases, this can create back pressure, which is caused by sperm unable to travel through the tube.
• Scar tissue: Adhesions may form and cause pain.

Symptoms

Post-vasectomy pain syndrome is typified by chronic pain — constant pain that varies from a dull ache to sharp pains — in one or both testicles more than three months after a vasectomy.

Diagnosis

Your healthcare provider may conduct a physical exam and check for scar tissue at the surgical site.

Additional urine and blood tests, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and/or ultrasound may also be ordered for further examination.

Treatment

The most common treatment is over-the-counter or prescription anti-inflammatory medications to reduce pain and swelling.

Surgery may also be an option. Microsurgical Vasovasostomy is used to reverse a vasectomy by using microsurgery to join the two cut parts of the vas deferens in each testicle.