Biological Implications
Vasectomy essentially ensures that in most cases the patient will be sterile after confirmation of success following surgery. The procedure is regarded by the medical profession as permanent because vasectomy reversal is costly and often does not restore the sperm count and/or motility to pre-vasectomy levels.
Men with vasectomies have a very small (nearly zero) chance of making a woman pregnant, but they will still have exactly the same risk of contracting and spreading sexually transmitted infections.
After vasectomy, the testes remain in the scrotum where Leydig cells continue to produce testosterone and other male hormones that continue to be secreted into the blood stream. One study found that sexual desire after vasectomy was diminished in 6% of vasectomized men, whereas other studies find higher rates of diminished sexual desire, for example nearly 20%.
When the vasectomy is complete, sperm cannot exit the body through the penis. Sperm are still produced by the testicles, but they are broken down and absorbed by the body. Much fluid content is absorbed by membranes in the epididymis, and much solid content is broken down by the responding macrophages and re-absorbed via the blood stream. Sperm is matured in the epididymis for about a month before leaving the testicles. After vasectomy, the membranes must increase in size to absorb and store more fluid; this triggering of the immune system causes more macrophages to be recruited to break down and re-absorb more solid content. Within one year after vasectomy, sixty to seventy percent of vasectomized men develop antisperm antibodies. In some cases, vasitis nodosa, a benign proliferation of the ductular epithelium, can also result. The buildup of sperm increases pressure in the vas deferens and epididymis. The entry of the sperm into the scrotum causes sperm granulomas to be formed by the body to contain and absorb the sperm which the body treats as a foreign substance. Human studies indicate long-term damage to, as well as shrinkage of, the testes. Animal studies suggest a drop of over 40% in testosterone levels, as well as other hormonal changes induced by vasectomy within about eight months.
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