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The usual way of producing sperm
for use in Assisted Reproductive
Technology is manual
stimulation. In cases where
medical or religious factors
prevent this, surgical methods
can be used. Medical reasons
that could contribute to
inability to produce sperm
though ejaculation could consist
of azoospermia, low sperm count,
low sperm motility. The
following procedures help
retrieve sperm through minor
surgical procedures:
PESA
PESA (percutaneous epididymal
sperm aspiration) is a method,
performed under local
anesthesia, which involves
extracting sperm with a fine
needle from the epididymis or
testes. The sperm is then
implanted into the egg through
the process of ICSI (Intracytoplasmic
Sperm Injection) to be used in
IVF.
TESA & TESE
In cases where the
epididymis does not contain any
sperm, because of impaired sperm
production, the method of TESA
(Testicular Sperm Aspiration) or
TESE (Testicular Sperm
Extraction) may be used. TESE
involves a surgical biopsy of
the testis, while TESA is
performed by sticking a needle
into the testis and aspirating
fluid and tissue with negative
pressure.
MESA
The most invasive of the
surgical sperm retrieval
procedures is MESA (micro-epididymal
sperm aspiration), which is
performed under general
anesthesia. MESA involves the
cutting open of the scrotum to
retrieve sperm. The wound is
closed with dissolvable
stitches. Swelling and pain
subsides within a few days,
during which prescribed
painkillers may be taken to ease
the pain.
These alternative methods of
retrieving sperm allow male
patients to use their own sperm
in the IVF procedure. The
procedures themselves are not
very costly and offer the chance
for couples to avoid the cost of
using a sperm donor. At the
Cyprus Fertility Clinic, we are
committed to offering you low
cost IVF treatment with high
success rates.
Some men do not produce sperm at
all or only in insufficient
numbers and poor quality. Many
of these men can have their
sperm aspirated directly from
their testicles (TESA) or from
the epididymis that stores the
sperm prior to an ejaculation (PESA,
MESA).
The retrieved sperm are then
used during in vitro
fertilization, gestational
surrogacy or egg donation
treatments with Intracytoplasmic
Sperm Injection (ICSI).
The aspiration is a brief
outpatient procedure requiring
only mild sedation. Most sperm
aspiration procedures are
performed at our centre.
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