Can inguinal hernia surgery affect male fertility?

  Can surgical treatment of an inguinal “hernia” lead to an impact on male reproductive function? This is not currently given enough attention in the industry and is even more ambiguous for patients. However, out of instinct and fear of surgery, many male patients ask this question before surgery.  As research progresses, issues such as possible vascular damage to the spermatic cord brought about by inguinal hernia surgery and foreign body reactions caused by artificial patches, which may adversely affect the structure and function of the vas deferens, are gradually receiving more and more attention. International and national awareness of the impact of inguinal hernia surgery on male fertility is also increasing, and experts are now calling for practitioners to pay close attention to this issue when performing surgery.  Why does hernia repair affect male fertility? The main reason for this is that all existing surgical procedures disturb the spermatic cord and its blood vessels, and even damage the vas deferens, and if both spermatic vessels and the vas deferens are damaged simultaneously or sequentially, the vas deferens structure or function will be affected, which may eventually affect male fertility. More seriously, now that patch tension-free hernia repair has become popular, the potential damage to the vas deferens caused by the patch is receiving more and more attention. When the patch covers the wall of the vas deferens, a foreign body reaction occurs, which affects the wall and lumen of the vas deferens, and eventually the structure and function of the vas deferens are damaged, resulting in a compromise of male fertility.  How to solve this problem that is related to the transmission of the family? We have thoroughly studied the advantages and disadvantages of various existing inguinal hernia repairs and made full use of the unique advantages of laparoscopic technology to design a new surgical approach that involves freeing the spermatic cord and blood vessels as little as possible and isolating the vas deferens to avoid direct contact with the patch. Although the operation is difficult and technically demanding, this procedure undoubtedly greatly reduces the possibility of damage to the spermatic cord vessels and vas deferens during inguinal hernia repair, and reduces the possibility of reproductive function damage that the operation may bring to male patients at the source.  As far as we have performed the surgery, the surgical results achieved the expected outcome. Because of the small intraoperative separation surface and the small trauma to the abdominal wall and adjacent tissues, the patient has less postoperative pain, faster recovery and better appearance, and no recurrence cases have been found.